Church of St Nicholas in Pyskowice

The Church of St Nicholas on Kościelna Street is the oldest church in Pyskowice. It is Gothic, rebuilt in the Baroque period and in the Neo-Gothic style, and entered in the heritage register. Its present appearance is owed mainly to the rebuilding after the fire in the town in 1822.

A church after the fires

The first mentions of Pyskowice date from 1256, and already then there was a church in the town dedicated to St Paul. It burned down in 1622, and after rebuilding it was enlarged in 1727-1728, with two symmetrical chapels added by the nave. Another fire in the town in 1822 destroyed the building again. It was rebuilt in 1823 to a design by Deschner and blessed on 11 September of that year. In the second half of the 19th century and in the 20th century the church was renovated.

Architecture and interior

It is an oriented brick building, single-nave, with recessed chapels and galleries and with gable roofs. The chancel closes on three sides and is flanked by a chapel and a sacristy. The front façade is Neo-Gothic, with pointed arcades, and in the west rises a single tower. The interior is covered with a barrel-and-cross vault on transverse arches. An altar of St John of Nepomuk from the 17th century has survived.

The organ was built by Ernst Kurzer and completed in 1897. The instrument has two manuals, a pedal and 18 stops, and its action is pneumatic.

Nearby

Only 200 metres away stands the second church in Pyskowice, the Church of St Stanislaus. A kilometre from the centre lies the Jewish cemetery, and a little further the railway open-air museum.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Kościelna, Pyskowice.
• This is a working parish church, so the interior is visited outside services.
• Current information is given on the parish website.