Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Katowice-Bogucice

The Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stands in the cemetery on Wróblewskiego Street in Bogucice, Katowice. It is a neo-Romanesque brick building on a Latin cross plan, entered in the heritage register.

The place and its history

The parish cemetery of the parish of St Stephen is the oldest necropolis in Katowice, and it is first mentioned in 1598. The chapel was built on the site of the former Bogucice church dedicated to the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which held the picture of Our Lady of Bogucice. The design was prepared by Mansuetus Fromm OFM, the author of the Franciscan monastery in Panewniki, and the building work, completed in 1910, was led by E. Naumann.

A year after it was handed over, the chapel suffered from mining damage. In 1945 it was damaged by the explosion of railway wagons on the ramp of the Katowice Zawodzie station. The reconstruction was financed by the “Katowice” mine, and the second consecration took place in 1956. A thorough renovation was carried out in 1998.

Architecture and interior

The structure is formed by the arms of the transept, a tower and an apse on the east. The nave and chancel are covered by a gabled roof, and the crossing by a dome. The elevations are decorated with lesenes, panels and arcaded friezes, and the west facade with a semicircular portal with a figure of Christ above the entrance. The interior is single-nave, with barrel vaults and a star vault in the lantern above the crossing. A copy of the picture of Our Lady of Bogucice hangs in the chapel, and beneath the floor is a crypt. The parish priests of the Bogucice parish are buried there or have epitaphs here.

Practical information

• Address: the cemetery on ul. Wróblewskiego, Katowice-Bogucice; the chapel is by the main avenue in the north-western part.
• This is an active parish cemetery, so quiet and behaviour appropriate to a burial place are expected.
• Nearby, about 0.8 km away, is the Silesian Museum in Katowice.