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The Most Holy Name of Mary Parish Church

Built in the “Wieluń style,” in the 16th century, then renovated. Wooden log construction boarded with planks, with the tower of post and beam construction with sloping walls. Saddleback roof with eaves. Furnishing late Renaissance and baroque.

Description

The church is oriented, built on a brick foundation. The saddleback roof of the rectangular nave and the narrower presbytery is covered with wooden shingles. The roof is topped with a baroque turret. The walls of the church were originally larch logs placed horizontally. Then they were boarded with planks.

The church is a log construction. The walls were made of logs cut lengthwise, placed one on another and joined together with woodworking joints at the corners. The ceilings are wooden. The bell tower based on a trapezium design was added to the west side of the nave in the 17th century. Interestingly, the tower holds the main entrance to the temple (the door frame is ogee-arched). The first storey of the tower is a narthex. The roofs of the church and the bell tower are covered with wooden shingles.

The main altar of the Gaszyn church is dated back to the first half of the 18th century. Its central element is the painting of Madonna with the Child. The side paintings depict St Margaret and St Cecilia. The top part of the altar is the painting of St Lawrence. On both sides of the altar there are 18th century polychrome sculptures: St Stanislaus with the figure of Piotrowin resurrected by the saint and probably St Adalbert. Lavish gilding and sophisticated forms indicate the influence of Mannerism, the dominant style in that period. On the rood beam there was an inscription in Latin, still readable only few years ago. Unfortunately, it has been painted over.

An interesting element of the furnishing is the metal lid of Jakub Gaszyński’s coffin, dated back to 1627. It depicts a shield with four quarters with his initials (I. G. Z. G.) and four coats of arms, including Odrowąż and probably Lew and Leszczyc. This historic item, characteristic for the culture of the Polish nobility (Sarmatism), has been buried together with the coffin in the land near the church for three centuries.

Date or time of building

XVI w.

Date or time of building

The first half of the 16th century.

Building material

Larch wooden building on a brick foundation.

History

The village was located on the old royal route leading from Wieluń to Bolesławiec. It was mentioned for the first time in documents in 1323. In the middle of the 15th century it was a farm of the gentry, located on the former peasant lands and belonging to the Gaszyński family. At the beginning of the 17th century practically the whole village belonged to the convent of Bernardine nuns. It is supposed that the Most Holy Name of Mary Church was built on the initiative of the Gaszyński-Wierzchleyski family.

Until 1683 the church was a chapel of Saint Sigismund of Burgundy, the King Martyr. It belonged to the convent of Bernardine nuns and the masses was celebrated by the assistant curate of the collegiate church in Wieluń. In 1683 the chapel was elevated to the rank of a parish branch church and dedicated to St Mary of Mercy. Those changes were influenced by the funding of the altar and the painting of St Mary with the Child, which was a thanksgiving votive offering for the fortunate homecoming after the Battle of Vienna. In 1987, for the first time in the history of Gaszyn, the parish was established. The first provost was the Reverend Janusz Grela.

During numerous renovations some parts of the furnishing, such as the organ gallery and the pulpit, were removed. In the 20th century a sacristy covered with pent roof was added to the north side of the church. Recently new benches, a confessional, an altar and a baptismal font have been bought. The churchyard and the area for a parking lot have been cobbled.

Curious details

In the cemetery near the church there is the grave of two soldiers of the 36th Infantry Regimen of the Academic Legion of the 28 Infantry Division of the Łódź Army, who were killed on the 1st of September 1939: Roman Filutar and Czesław Tymiński. There is also a monument commemorating soldiers who were killed defending their country in 1939-1945.

Form of legal protection

The entry in the regional heritage register:

The Most Holy Name of Mary Parish Church, registry number: 937 from 1967-12-30

Object location

The church is located by a stream among trees, barely visible from the highway 45 (it is situated around 150 m from the road). There are no signposts. Nearby, there is a small parking lot. On the churchyard there are the remains of an old cemetery – two war graves survived.

The village is located near the highway 45 leading from Kluczbork to Wieluń, 3 km from Wieluń.

Around 300 m from the church there is a bus stop by the highway 45, from where buses depart to Wieluń (19 buses daily), Praszka (9), Opole (4), Olesno (1), Kluczbork (2) and Gorzów Śląski (1). Moreover, 9 private minibuses depart daily from the same stop to Wieluń and Praszka.