A cemetery church from 1850-1856, successor to a wooden chapel endowed in 1701 by Andrzej Komoniecki, with 19th-century altars and organ.
The Church of the Transfiguration in Żywiec stands in the grounds of the Transfiguration Cemetery in the Śródmieście district. The present masonry church was built in 1850-1856, but the site has a longer history: in 1701 the Żywiec reeve Andrzej Komoniecki and his wife Zofia Kalfasowiczówna endowed a wooden chapel here.
The chapel stood next to the stone wayside shrine “Boża Męka” (Passion of God) from 1647, endowed by Jan Frankowic and Anna née Gałuszka. In 1704 the chapel was extended into a church under the direction of the master carpenter Wojciech Barabasz. In the new church a bell dedicated to St Sophia, patron saint of the Komoniecki family, was hung, and in the autumn of that year two side altars were installed: of St Sophia and St Andrew.
In 1850-1856 the wooden church was replaced by a masonry building, mainly thanks to Jan Suchoński. The funds came from contributions by the burghers of Żywiec, and the plans were prepared by Fr Franciszek Augustin.
The high altar of 1856 was made by the carpenter Jan Wiśniowski. It contains the painting “The Transfiguration” by Józef Ignacy Maultz and sculptures by Józef Pękalski depicting Saints Peter and Paul and angels. The two side altars were made in 1866 and 1870 by Walenty Szubert. On the gallery stands a small organ from 1875, built in Kraków, in the Neo-Baroque style, with six stops and mechanical action. Its general overhaul was carried out by an organ-building firm from Wieliczka.
The church's former furnishings, that is the historic paintings, reliquaries and sculptures, were moved to the Żywiec City Museum.
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