Church of the Holy Cross in Bytom-Miechowice

The Church of the Holy Cross in Bytom-Miechowice is a neo-Gothic church from 1856-1864, entered in the heritage register. The brick building has a tower about 60 metres high.

A foundation of the Winckler family

The church was built to a design by August Soller, and the tower in its present form was completed in 1894. The founder was Maria Winckler née Domes, widow of Franz Aresin and by then the wife of Franz Winckler. The church was originally to stand in the castle park, on the site of an old little church pulled down in 1853, which Fr Norbert Bonczyk described in the poem “Stary Kościół Miechowski” (The Old Church of Miechowice). Because of unstable, waterlogged ground, so-called quicksand, it was built on the neighbouring hill.

In the crypt under the transept lie the remains of the former owners of Miechowice: the Domes, Aresin and Winckler families. In the churchyard are the graves of residents of Miechowice murdered by the Red Army in 1945.

Architecture

The building was constructed of brick on a cross plan measuring about 27 by 49 metres. The main nave is 13 metres high, the aisles 11 metres, and they are separated by brick pillars. The interior is covered with star-shaped rib vaults of hollow brick. Above the entrance rises a tower with an octagonal roof, and the sandstone portal is decorated with figures of a Miechowice native and a miner. Among the furnishings a marble sculpture of the Madonna stands out, the last work of Theodor Kalide.

Mining damage

Hard coal was mined beneath the church, which caused deformations of the building. One of the pillars leaned out of the vertical by just under 3 per cent, so the building was reinforced with steel ties, struts and an external stiffening slab. In 1999 the church received the award of the Chief Conservator of Monuments for a “well-kept monument”.

Nearby

Only 300 metres from here stands the Tiele-Winckler Palace in Miechowice.

Right next to it lies the Tiele-Winckler Park.

Practical information

• Address: ks. Jana Frenzla 42, Bytom-Miechowice.
• This is an active parish church. The rules for entering the interior are given on the parish website swkrzyz.bytom.pl.