St Catherine's Church in Wolbrom

The Baroque church in the north-eastern corner of Wolbrom's market square has walls about 1.5 m thick and for centuries doubled as a small fortress. Its history goes back to 1346, and its present form was given in the 17th century by the Canons Regular of the Lateran from Kraków's Kazimierz district. Inside you will find an unusual colour scheme: altars in black and gold rather than the typical Baroque white.

History: from a wooden church to a canons' priory

The first, wooden church appears in the Peter's Pence register of 1346 as "Ecclesia de Wolwrami civitate", and the parish was probably founded soon after the town received its charter in 1327. In 1460 the organ builder Szymon of Kraków built an organ here, at the time the only one in the area. Around 1500 a masonry church replaced the wooden one.

The turning point came with the foundation of Father Marcin Wolbram, a descendant of the town's founder, approved by King Sigismund III Vasa in 1628. The Canons Regular of the Lateran who arrived rebuilt the church from 1638 and built a priory, linked to the church by an elevated passage leading to the oratory. Bishop Stanisław Szembek consecrated the church on 27 September 1692. In 1710 the order held its general chapter here, one of only a handful ever held outside Kraków. After the January Uprising the tsarist authorities dissolved the priory in 1864, and the building became the parish house.

What to see

• Baroque altars – the high altar and two side altars from the canons' time, in a striking combination of black and gold.
• Altars and pulpit by Paweł Turbasa – in the late 19th century this sculptor from Olkusz added four Neo-Baroque altars, a Neo-Rococo pulpit and the organ loft, matched so well to the older work that only a trained eye can tell them apart.
• Late Gothic choir stalls from the early 16th century in the chancel, and a sacrament niche in the apse wall.
• The image of Our Lady of Consolation, venerated in the parish.
• The bell tower beside the church, listed as a monument together with it.

Did you know?

Above the entrance you can spot three metal objects sticking out of the wall; according to the parish chronicle they are probably artillery shells from the First World War lodged in the thick masonry. In 1936–1937 the south aisle and the Chapel of Reconciliation were added. In April 1950 the parish priest, Father Piotr Oborski, and his curate were arrested and tried by a communist court; Father Oborski died in prison in 1952.

Tripto tips

This is a working parish church, so visit before or after Mass and keep quiet inside. Half an hour is enough to see the interior. Nearby, at the corner of Mariacka and Kościuszki streets, stands the larch-wood Church of the Immaculate Conception from 1638; together they make a short walk around Wolbrom and a good stop on the way to the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.