St Sigismund's Church, Szydlowiec

Exterior of St Sigismund's Church, Szydlowiec

Saint Sigismund's Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Szydlowiec, Poland. It was built towards the close of the Gothic period (the church constitutive act is dated 1 January 1401) and is an example of the Late Gothic hall church.

Architecture and features

The exterior is of local sandstone. The late-Gothic silhouette of the church contrasts with its colorful Renaissance interior. In the chancel, there is a late-Gothic polyptych showing the Assumption and Evangelical scenes made in 1509 in a workshop in Kraków. The 19th-century church organ is also used for secular purposes.. The church faces the East and is composed of a three-bay presbytery. The rectangular nave is covered with a larch wood ceiling. In the middle of the nave is a figure of Saint Sigismund. The nave borders with the St.Stanislaus Chapel and a vestibule on the North and the southern part of the nave borders with The Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel. The top of the nave is ornamented with the Szydłowiecki family coat of arms. The northern part of the presbytery adjoins the treasury and vestry. In the presbytery is located a main, from the late Renaissance, altar. On the altar is a sculpture of the Holy Mary being crowned by Saint Trinity and also various paintings of the saints: Saint Augustine, Saint Nicholas, Saint Martin, John the Baptist, Saint Stanislaus, Saint Christopher and Saint Florian. On the ceiling of the presbytery are painted stairs. Around the church is located a cemetery, where can be found gravestones and grave walls of local prominent figures. The grave wall of Dorota Strzemboszowna is located in the wall that surrounds the church's cemetery. Another gravestone sculpture is one of the local priests, Kazimierz Owsiany Orłowski. This sculpture is an example of the late Baroque sculpture and is also ornamented with a sepulchral epitaph. Moreover, in the church's outer southern walls are carved family names and owners's dates of death, which originate from the 16-17th century and commemorate people who were buried in the local church cemetery. The burial ground has historic grave monuments by Bartolommeo Berrecci, namely of Mikołaj Szydłowiecki (1480-1532), and of Mikołaj Radziwiłł (1746-95) and his wife Maria née Gawdzicka which was inspired by sleeping Ariadna (G. Monaldi).

History

By the Bishop's decree, which was issued on 1st January 1401 on the motion of Jakub Odrowąż and Sławko Odrowąż (later known under the nickname "Szydłowiecki"), the building of Saint Sigismund's Church started. The original foundations of the church were wooden. The church remained wooden until 1493 when Jakub Szydłowiecki came to a decision to rebuild the church and as a consequence, the old foundations were replaced by stone. The building work lasted until 1525 and was finished by Mikołaj Szydłowiecki. In the 17th century was added to the church a tower with the ave-bell.