The parish in Mogilany was founded before 1325. The first church in Mogilany was wooden. The historian Jan Długosz mentioned it, giving the date of its construction 1440. The brick church together with its side chapel of St Nicholas was built by Mikołaj Borek. The Suffragan Bishop of Kraków Paweł Dąbski consecrated the newly built church in 1608. It was a single-nave church and soon turned out to be too small as the parish grew. In 1929, Rev. Józef Mazurek, the local parish priest, commissioned plans of a new church from the Krakow-based architect Franciszek Mączyński, and the work was started in the same year. The chancel was demolished and a transverse aisle was built, along with a huge chancel with ambulatories, with the old church becoming the nave. In 1975, the then parish priest, Rev. Józef Żurawik received a permit from historic preservation authorities to remodel the old church. Reconstruction plans were made by the architect Wanda Łopatowa. The nave was made higher by 5 m and the church was covered by the new roof. After this work was completed, the church’s silhouette became uniform.
What to see at the church:
In the chancel:
The altar dating from ca. 1700, with a crucifix and a richly sculpted heart-shaped retable, adorned with grapevine ornaments, with late-Gothic statues of the Virgin Mary and St John;
The late-Baroque pulpit from the 18th century with a painting of the Good Shepherd dating from 1777;
polychrome from 1956 (The Feeding of the Multitude and The Lord’s Last Supper), by Tadeusz Brzozowski.
In the chapel:
An 18th-century altar with the paintings depicting St Bishop Nicholas and Our Lady of Częstochowa (contemporary) and the statues of St John Cantius and St Casimir;
polychrome in the cupola, dating from 1882.
In the nave:
Stone baptismal font, Baroque, early 17th century;
Side altar of Lord’s Transfiguration (late-Baroque), early 17th century;
Side altar of St Bartholomew the Apostle, rococo, 18th century.; Pieta, a painting on wood (Baroque);
A series of paintings on one canvas Joyful scenes from the life of Jesus, 17th century;
The Way of the Cross, 1865, by Tadeusz Konopka;
Belfry from 1850. Today three bells hang in the belfry: the central Jubilee belle was cast to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ and the millennium of the Kraków Bishopric, two others commemorate St Bartholomew and St Joseph.
Source: Archive of Near Kraków LAG
What to see at the church:
In the chancel:
The altar dating from ca. 1700, with a crucifix and a richly sculpted heart-shaped retable, adorned with grapevine ornaments, with late-Gothic statues of the Virgin Mary and St John;
The late-Baroque pulpit from the 18th century with a painting of the Good Shepherd dating from 1777;
polychrome from 1956 (The Feeding of the Multitude and The Lord’s Last Supper), by Tadeusz Brzozowski.
In the chapel:
An 18th-century altar with the paintings depicting St Bishop Nicholas and Our Lady of Częstochowa (contemporary) and the statues of St John Cantius and St Casimir;
polychrome in the cupola, dating from 1882.
In the nave:
Stone baptismal font, Baroque, early 17th century;
Side altar of Lord’s Transfiguration (late-Baroque), early 17th century;
Side altar of St Bartholomew the Apostle, rococo, 18th century.; Pieta, a painting on wood (Baroque);
A series of paintings on one canvas Joyful scenes from the life of Jesus, 17th century;
The Way of the Cross, 1865, by Tadeusz Konopka;
Belfry from 1850. Today three bells hang in the belfry: the central Jubilee belle was cast to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ and the millennium of the Kraków Bishopric, two others commemorate St Bartholomew and St Joseph.
Source: Archive of Near Kraków LAG
