Academic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rybnik

The Academic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Gliwicka Street is the oldest and smallest church in Rybnik. From the former parish church the Gothic chancel from the mid-15th century has survived.

From parish church to cemetery chapel

A wooden church had earlier stood on the site. The brick church was built in the mid-15th century, and in 1797 its nave and tower were destroyed. The bricks from the demolition were used to build the new parish church, today the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows. Until 1975 the surviving fragment served as the cemetery chapel of Rybnik's oldest necropolis. In 1619 St John Sarkander preached sermons here.

The building and interior

The oriented, single-nave church is of brick, with fragments of a Gothic rib vault inside. On the floor lies the tomb slab of the Węgierski family of Pilchowice, and above the entrance stands a figure of Our Lady with the Child. Baroque sandstone altar steps, found during renovation, now form the front of the altar platform. The church stands in Jan Sarkander Park, and a lapidarium adjoins it on the south.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Gliwicka 7, Rybnik.
• The church is rarely open outside services; check times with the parish of Our Lady of Sorrows.
• Nearby is the Teatr Ziemi Rybnickiej.