Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Skoczów

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Skoczów is a late Baroque, three-nave hall church with galleries, entered in the heritage register in 1960. The present building is the fifth church on this site, as the previous four burned down in fires in 1470, 1531, 1713 and 1756.

History

The church was built in 1762 on the initiative of the parish priest Andrzej Pszczyński and the parishioners. It was consecrated on 23 August 1767 by Philipp Gotthard von Schaffgotsch, Bishop of Wrocław, who gave it the dedication to Saints Peter and Paul and donated a painting by the Roman painter Giovanni Lanfranco. The tower was added only in 1862. A projection with a square tower juts out on the west side, and beneath the church lie filled-in crypts.

Interior

Skoczów is the home town of St John Sarkander, and many elements of the church are dedicated to him: a statue, a side altar, scenes from his life on the vault painted in 1972, the bell “Sarkander” and relics handed over in 1920 by the Archbishop of Olomouc. In the side altar of St Joseph there is a painting of Our Lady of Skoczów from 1737, and in the nave a Rococo pulpit from 1842. The organ from 1892 was built by the Rieger Brothers firm of Krnov; it has 18 stops and two manuals. In front of the church stand figures from the second half of the 18th century by the local artist Wacław Donay, depicting, among others, St John of Nepomuk, St John Cantius and St John Sarkander.

Nearby

Only a few dozen metres away stand the Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross and the Gustaw Morcinek Museum.

Practical information

• Address: Wałowa 12, Skoczów.
• The church is in use; check with the parish for the rules on visiting.