Churches & monasteries

Romanesque Church of St. John the Baptist in Siewierz

On a hill by Cmentarna Street in Siewierz stands the Romanesque church of St. John the Baptist — one of the oldest preserved churches in Poland. It was probably built in 1144 or 1164, funded by Piotr Włostowic, who is credited with founding seventy churches. Today the building serves as a cemetery chapel.

Stone, loopholes and Romanesque murals

The temple measures just 6 by 9 metres. It was built of ashlar stone, with a semicircular apse and a Burgundian vault. Windows only 15 centimetres wide resemble loopholes — during a raid, the population of the gord would seek shelter behind them. The apse preserves fragments of double-layer Romanesque polychromy from the 12th century with a Maiestas Domini scene, and the western wall retains traces of a gallery.

The synod of 1233 and the post-war reconstruction

It was here that on 6 July 1233 a synod of Polish bishops was held. After the gord was moved, the parish passed to the church of St. Matthias, and the old temple fell into ruin — the first repair came only in 1639: the walls were supported with buttresses, the roof was bound with iron, and a flat ceiling and a porch replaced the vault. In the 1950s the vault was reconstructed and the dismantled wall was rebuilt from numbered original ashlar stones.

In practice

The church lies on the Romanesque Trail; you can view the site from the outside all year round. Masses are celebrated only twice a year — on All Saints' Day and at the June indulgence feast — so you can see the interior after arranging a visit with the parish of St. Matthias. Siewierz is a quarter of an hour's drive from Będzin, with the bishop's castle and the town square worth a stop on the way.