Church in the Field near Sidzina

Locals simply call it the "church in the field". The neo-Gothic Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Częstochowa stands alone among fields and meadows, right by national road 46 from Nysa towards Niemodlin and Opole, about 1.5 km from the village of Sidzina in the municipality of Skoroszyce. Its tall, slender tower makes many drivers stop out of sheer curiosity.

The cross that kept coming back

According to local tradition, a farmer found a cross on this spot and decided to give it to the church. For reasons no one could explain, the cross turned up again in the field, in exactly the same place. When this happened twice, the villagers took it as a sign and built a chapel here. The story is commemorated in a tympanum made using the sgraffito technique.

The present church was built in 1873 on the site of an older chapel, probably dating from 1680. It is laid out as a Greek cross and has a neo-Gothic tower. Over time it became a place of pilgrimage for local people and, according to the regional tourism portal, a meeting place for lovers.

Pilgrimage church and restoration

The municipality describes it as a pilgrimage church, used for parish feast-day celebrations. In 2023 the municipality of Skoroszyce received a grant pledge of up to PLN 980,000 from the government's heritage restoration programme for its renovation.

Sidzina itself has an interesting story. According to the municipality, most of today's villagers are descendants of highlanders from the Żywiec area in southern Poland who settled here after the Second World War. The village also has the historic parish church of Saints Peter and Paul, first recorded in 1302, burned in 1638 and rebuilt before 1651.

Tripto tip

The church is best seen from the outside, from the field track, where you can take in the whole building against the fields. The church is not necessarily open outside services, so if you want to go inside, ask the parish in Sidzina in advance. By the entrance, look for the sgraffito tympanum telling the story of the found cross. A fifteen-minute stop is enough, and in good weather a short walk among the fields is pleasant. Road 46 is busy, so only pull over where it is safe.