Romanesque Church of St James, Giebło

On a rise in the centre of Giebło, a village in the municipality of Ogrodzieniec, stands the Church of St James the Apostle – one of the oldest Romanesque village churches in Lesser Poland. The exact building date is unknown, but analysis of the walls dates it to the mid-12th century. From outside it now looks like a 20th-century building, so it helps to know where to look for Romanesque traces.

History: a Romanesque core in a new coat

The church of hewn stone survived virtually unchanged until the early 20th century. In 1900–1912 it was thoroughly rebuilt: the original chancel and the eastern part of the nave were raised by about 1 m, the nave was extended westwards, the old tower was replaced and a brick sacristy was added on the east side. The whole is enclosed by a stone wall from 1787, and the interior was renovated in 1934.

How to read the Romanesque traces

• On the south wall, from outside, you can see a walled-up, round-arched Romanesque portal.
• In the terracotta floor the line between the old and new parts of the church is easy to spot.
• The square chancel opens onto the nave through a wide round arch resting on two pilasters and is covered by a brick cross vault.
• Inside are three wooden altars: the high altar with a figure of St James, and side altars of Our Lady of Grace (Our Lady of the Snows) and St Anthony.
• The bell in the tower bears the inscription: "Paid for by the parishioners of Giebło, through the efforts of Fr Franciszek Mostowicz, 1825".

Did you know?

During earthworks around the church, archaeologists found a 14th-century lead seal matrix measuring 4.2 × 1.5 cm, with a lily and the inscription "S. Luciani Presbiteri". Vatican records made it possible to establish that it belonged to Father Lucjan, parish priest of Giebło in the first half of the 14th century. In 1327 his parish was valued at one and a half marks. An archaeologist from the Silesian heritage office called the find sensational, because it is rare to link an object to a specific person.

Tripto tips

This is a working parish church, so the interior is easiest to see around Mass times or by contacting the parish in advance. Half an hour is enough to look at the building outside and up close. Giebło lies in the municipality of Ogrodzieniec, so a visit combines easily with a trip to the ruins of Ogrodzieniec Castle and the limestone rocks of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.