Church of St Barbara and St Joseph in Jastrzębie-Zdrój

The Church of Saints Barbara and Joseph is a wooden church that is the oldest church in Jastrzębie-Zdrój. It was built in the first half of the 17th century in Jedłownik, today a district of Wodzisław Śląski, and in the 1970s it was moved to the Przyjaźń estate in Jastrzębie. The church belongs to the Wooden Architecture Trail of the Silesian Voivodeship, in the Rybnik loop.

The church in Jedłownik

The parish in Jedłownik is already mentioned in the Peter's Pence register of 1447. The oldest known description of the church dates from the 17th century. The original patron was St Mark the Evangelist, and St Barbara became patron only after 1678, when a new high altar dedicated to this saint was installed. The interior was rebuilt in 1888. A report from 1849 says that the year 1345 was carved on one of the beams, which would mean the church is much older; this has not been confirmed by research.

In 1949-1952 a new brick parish church was built in Jedłownik. The wooden church went out of use and began to decay.

The move to Jastrzębie

In the 1960s mines and new estates were being built in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, and the first of these was the Przyjaźń estate, then with about three thousand residents. They belonged to the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Zdrój estate, and the overcrowded parish church and the long distances led to the creation of their own community.

An expert report from 1974 showed fungal infestation of the structure and a leaking roof covering, so the dismantling and moving of the church was carried out quickly. The foundation stone was blessed on 8 July 1974, and the work lasted until December of that year. The timber structure and the shingle covering were made by specialists from Żywiec, and damaged elements were replaced with new wood. The building was given a cellar because of the slope of the ground; the cellars now house catechetical rooms, a parish shop and a library. The solemn consecration took place on 3 December 1974, and the church was given the dedication to St Barbara and St Joseph the Worker.

The building and furnishings

It is a single-nave church on a rectangular plan, with a chancel closed on three sides, a porch on the west and a two-storey sacristy. The interior has an apparent barrel vault and, on the south side, a music gallery on posts. The main door hangs on strap hinges from 1647. In the heritage register the church is dated to the 17th century.

Among the most valuable furnishings are a historic altar with a painting of St Barbara, a 17th-century pulpit with paintings of the four evangelists painted on board, a font and a 19th-century painting of the Madonna and Child. In 1979 the painting was lent for an exhibition at the National Museum in Warsaw. The Stations of the Cross were carved from lime wood by an amateur miner in 1987.

Practical information

• Address: ul. ks. bp. Herberta Bednorza 1A, Jastrzębie-Zdrój.
• The church is a working parish church; check the rules of entry outside services with the parish.
• It is about half a kilometre from here to the Jas-Mos Coal Mine, and less than two kilometres to the Spa Park.