Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene in Cieszyn

The Church of St Mary Magdalene is the oldest surviving Catholic church in Cieszyn, known as the fara (parish church), in which the Cieszyn Piasts are buried. It was built in the 13th century as a Dominican church, and today, with its Baroque furnishings and a late Baroque-Neoclassical façade with a tower, it is the main church of the parish and the diocesan Marian shrine. It stands on Plac Dominikański.

From a Dominican priory to the parish church

According to some sources the church was built around 1263 at the foundation of Duchess Euphemia, wife of Duke Władysław of Opole-Racibórz; the parish speaks generally of the 13th century and a foundation by the dukes of Cieszyn. The church was initially served by the Dominicans. In the Gothic period the earlier church became the transept of an enlarged church, with a long chancel for the friars and a shorter nave for the faithful. During the Reformation, from 1544 to 1611, the church belonged to the Lutherans, after which the Dominicans returned to it.

After the great fire of the town in 1789 the Dominicans left Cieszyn for good, and their church became the only parish church in the town. The reconstruction gave the Gothic body a Baroque, late Baroque-Neoclassical façade topped by a tower; it was designed by Karl Jacobi von Eckholm, who directed the rebuilding of the town. During the renovation in 1962-1967 the Gothic layout of the walls and the tracery in the windows were uncovered in the exterior plaster.

Interior and chapels

The interior furnishings are Baroque. The main altar from the end of the 18th century was made by the Moravian artist Andreas Kaspar Schweigl of Brno, and the painting in the altar was painted in Venice in 1858. The pulpit and the baptismal font canopy come from the workshop of Schubert of Opava. In the wall by the balustrade a Gothic tomb of a duke of Cieszyn has survived, and according to studies the church holds the remains of all the Cieszyn Piasts. The tomb was placed in a Neo-Renaissance niche from 1860.

Chapels surround the nave. The Chapel of the Holy Cross with a large Baroque crucifix was endowed in 1660 by Jan Fryderyk Larisch. The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament from 1804 holds a painting of Our Lady Help of Christians. The Chapel of St Melchior Grodziecki commemorates the saint born in Cieszyn in 1584; after his canonisation in 1995 all-day adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was introduced in the church.

Shrine of Our Lady of Cieszyn

In 1997 a 17th-century painting of Our Lady of Cieszyn, adorned with crowns of Cieszyn filigree, was hung in the church. Since 2002 the church has had the title of Shrine of Our Lady of Cieszyn. The parish celebrates three patronal feasts: in honour of St Mary Magdalene, of St Melchior Grodziecki and of Our Lady of Cieszyn.

Nearby

The immediate surroundings of the parish church are the old town with the town hall and the Printing Museum, and not far away stands the Rotunda of St Nicholas.

Practical information

• Address: Plac Dominikański, Cieszyn.
• This is a working parish church; Mass times are given on the parish website parafiamagdaleny.pl, which also has broadcasts of Masses from the church.
• Visiting the interior outside services: it is worth checking the hours with the parish office before your visit.