Arian Chapel in Cielętniki

The Arian chapel in Cielętniki, also known as the Chapel of the Cavalry and Polish Horse, is a historic site in the Dąbrowa Zielona municipality in Częstochowa County. It was built as an Arian meeting house, later served as a manor storehouse, and today is again a place of worship.

An Arian meeting house on the Maj estate

The founders were the owners of Cielętniki from the Maj family of the Starykoń coat of arms, sympathisers of Arianism. The Arians, also known as the Polish Brethren, descended from Calvinism and did not accept the dogma of the Trinity. The chapel is among the few surviving traces of their former presence in Poland. Sources give differing ages: some indicate the 16th century, and the heritage register the second half of the 18th century.

The building and its history

The chapel is brick and Baroque, and above the entrance it has the Starykoń coat of arms of the Maj family. In 1967 it was entered in the heritage register as part of the manor and park complex, which consists of a late Baroque manor house of 1725 and a park from the first half of the 18th century. After a period of use as a storehouse, the chapel returned to a sacred function as the only Chapel of the Cavalry and Polish Horse in Poland, dedicated to Our Lady, Hetman of the Polish Soldier.

Practical information

• The chapel stands on the grounds of the manor and park complex in Cielętniki, right next to the manor house in Cielętniki.
• The complex is private, so check with the manager before a visit whether you may enter the grounds and the chapel.