Church of the Holy Spirit in Tychy

The Church of the Holy Spirit in the Żwaków district of Tychy is one of the best-known Polish churches of late Modernism. It was built in 1978-1982 and was entered in the heritage register in 2019. The chief designer, Stanisław Niemczyk, is also the author of the interior furnishings.

Construction

The building permit was issued on 20 July 1976, work began on 9 May 1978, and the foundation stone and the chapel of Our Lady of Jasna Góra were blessed on 25 February 1979 by Bishop Herbert Bednorz. Construction was led by Father Franciszek Resiak, who worked with the engineer Jerzy Manjura. The church was blessed in September 1982, and the belfry was completed a year later.

Form

The church is of brick, on a central plan; a rectangular nave is surrounded by cloisters, and the large roof rests on reinforced-concrete frames and has a skylight above the nave. Niemczyk compared its form to a tent, "the first temple of the chosen people", while others see in it a burial mound or a spoil heap. The vertical axis with crosses symbolises the descent of the Holy Spirit, and light through the skylight and the glazing in the floor reaches the lower chapel. Crosses recur in the floors, windows, doors and fence, and the door handles are shaped like doves.

Interior

The church has two levels: above, a single-space church with a central altar, below, a chapel, a sacristy and catechetical rooms. The inner slopes of the roof are covered with wood bearing a polychrome by Jerzy Nowosielski from 1983-1986; his designs are kept by the Municipal Museum in Tychy. The altar and pulpit are of black oak, a brass ciborium hangs above the altar, and the chandeliers are shaped like an inverted menorah. By the main entrance stands a font under a reinforced-concrete canopy.

Grounds and awards

The grounds are surrounded by a brick wall, the belfry stands in the north-east corner, and on a mound symbolising Mount Sinai stands a mission cross. The design received, among others, the SARP Award of the Year in 1983.

Nearby

Close by, about a kilometre away, lies the Tychy Water Park, and in the town you can also see the Church of St John the Baptist.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Myśliwska 43, Tychy.
• This is a working parish church; it is worth checking the rules for visiting the interior with the parish.