St Bartholomew’s Church in Mogiła: Poland’s Oldest Three-Nave Wooden Church

Po polsku: Kościół pw. św. Bartłomieja w Krakowie

Did you know that Kraków has the oldest wooden church in Poland with three naves in a hall layout? St Bartholomew’s stands in the Mogiła district of Kraków, right opposite the big Cistercian abbey church.

It is a historic Roman Catholic church built of larch wood (modrzew). I like places like this, small and quiet, and easy to miss if you only come for the abbey.

Where it is and who built it

The church stands opposite the basilica in Mogiła. The first mention of it in documents is from 1329. The Cistercians (a monastic order) built it for the local people, whom they looked after as parish priests.

The parish owes a lot to the Odrowąż family. Iwo Odrowąż, Bishop of Kraków, founded the monastery and brought the Cistercians to Mogiła. In 1266 Bishop Jan Prandota, also of the Odrowąż coat of arms, gave the parish of St Bartholomew’s church to the monastery in Mogiła.

A short history of the building

In 1466, perhaps after a fire, the church was built anew. Around 1740 it was thoroughly rebuilt and modernised, but the Gothic layout and structure were left untouched. You can still see the pointed arcades resting on chamfered, and partly profiled, pillars. They divide the interior into a main nave and side naves.

At that time the church was given the fashionable shape of a Latin cross. Side chapels were added, creating a plan close to a transept. A two-storey sacristy was built, and the shingles were removed from the lower part of the walls and replaced with boarding. In 1839 two porches were added, a side one and a main one.

Why this church is special

The three-nave hall layout is a great rarity among wooden Gothic churches. That is why St Bartholomew’s is often described as the oldest of its kind in Poland.

In the southern side nave, a richly decorated Gothic doorway has survived. It has plant motifs, the Odrowąż coat of arms, the date 1466, and the signature of its maker, Maciej Mączka.

Inside: paintings and altars

The painted decoration (polichromia) inside dates from 1766 and is in the Rococo style. It includes architectural motifs, medallions with portraits of bishops (for example Iwo Odrowąż, Jan Prandota and Zbigniew Oleśnicki), saints and scholars connected with Mogiła, and coats of arms. On the ceiling you can see St Bernard kneeling before the Virgin Mary.

In the right-hand chapel, the ceiling shows St Bartholomew going up to heaven. The angels with him hold bloody knives. This symbolises that his executioners, who flayed him, in a way set him free „to heaven”.

The painting of St Bartholomew in the main altar was made by Fr Józef Kaczmarczyk in the 1920s. In the south chapel there is a Baroque altar of Our Lady and a Rococo altar of Our Lady of the Rosary, with a picture of St Anne Selbdritt (św. Anna Samotrzeć). The north chapel has another Baroque altar with a picture of Our Lady of Sorrows (a copy from the 1970s) and a Rococo altar of St Isidore the Farmer.

Outside, the church is surrounded by a wooden fence with a three-gate bell tower from 1752.

Visiting

The church is not always open for sightseeing. In summer it is sometimes opened as part of the Wooden Architecture Trail (Szlak Architektury Drewnianej). Otherwise, the easiest way to see inside is to come for Mass. My tip: call the abbey before you go, and wear comfortable shoes if you plan to walk around the area.

More guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska