Church of the Holy Cross in Żywiec

The Church of the Holy Cross in Ruda, a part of Żywiec, is a Gothic church from the late 14th century. Locals call it the Church of the Three Crosses, because on the outer wall of the apse stand figures of the crucified Jesus and the two thieves. It is a branch church of the parish of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The oldest church in the town

The church was built around 1380, before the founding of Żywiec on its present site. At the beginning of the 15th century it was a Hussite church, and in 1428 it returned to Catholic hands and was blessed again by the bishop of Kraków. In 1679 the half-timbered nave was pulled down and replaced with a larger one, preserved to this day, and in 1690 a round apse was added to the chancel. In 1790 the church was closed and sold at auction. The town bought it back only in 1801, and during the Napoleonic wars it served as a barracks, a warehouse and a military hospital. In 1878 the Chapel of the Garden of Gethsemane was built, and in 1910 the tower and porch. During the German occupation, until 1945, it was the church of a separate parish for Germans.

Architecture

The oriented building of plastered stone has a nave 20 m long and 9 m wide and a chancel with an apse. High pitched roofs are covered with shingles, and above them rises an octagonal turret for the sanctus bell with a lantern. The nave and chancel are covered with a flat false barrel vault, and the apse with a wooden dome. In the chapel in the tower, a polychrome by Jan Kazimierz Olpiński from 1916 has survived. Of the former furnishings, a Baroque painting “Christ Carrying the Cross” remains.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Świętokrzyska 1A, Żywiec.
• An active church, check the rules of entry with the parish.
• Nearby you can visit the castle park in Żywiec and the Żywiec City Museum.