Holy Sepulchre Chapel in Potępa

The Holy Sepulchre Chapel in Potępa, a village in the municipality of Krupski Młyn, stands on Tarnogórska Street. It was built in 1672 as a votive offering of thanks and is one of three chapels of the Tomb of Christ in Poland that are not part of larger complexes, and the only such chapel in the Silesian Voivodeship.

Foundation

The founder was Count Georg Leonhard von Colonna von Fels, lord of the surrounding lands. According to tradition, he was attacked by wolves during a hunt and saved himself by climbing a linden tree, and he took this as a sign of divine protection. The designer was Marcin Grochowski, who before starting work visited Głogówek, where a chapel modelled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem had been built in 1634.

Structure and interior

The chapel is built on a rectangular plan with a five-sided end on the west, a low hipped roof with a lantern, and a shingle covering; it is surrounded by a path of oak piles. The interior consists of the Angel's vestibule and a square burial chamber. In the chamber stands a Baroque wooden altar with a polychrome figure of Christ in the tomb, and behind a grille a Baroque Pietà can be seen. In front of the chapel is a stone cross from the late 19th century with the inscription “Sequere me”.

Practical information

• Location: Potępa, Tarnogórska Street.
• The chapel is in liturgical use; two indulgence feasts a year fall on the third Sunday after Easter and on St Medard's Day.
• You can combine the visit with the church in Koty (Church of Sts Peter and Paul), about 3 km away.