Churches & monasteries

Church of St. Bartholomew in Morawica

In Morawica in the commune of Liszki, in the Kraków Valleys near Kraków, stands the church of St. Bartholomew the Apostle of 1748, designed by the Italian architect Francesco Placidi. This is only the newest layer of a place whose history reaches back to the Middle Ages — the church stands on the foundations of an old stronghold, as does the adjacent bell tower.

The first mentions of the parish of Morawica come from the 13th century, and the first brick church was erected here as early as the 15th century. The village was the seat of the Topór family, who resided in a defensive castle at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries; later the castle passed to the Tęczyński family. The oldest preserved part of the complex is the rectory — a fragment of the medieval castle. Its walls are thick, hewn from solid rock, and hide underground corridors that allowed escape from a besieged fortress.

The Baroque church and bell tower form a compact ensemble, and the former castle still shapes the landscape of the village. Morawica lies in the southern part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, so a visit combines well with a walk through the Kraków Valleys. The interior is best visited outside service times.