A brick church from 1635 on a hill in Grodziec, built with funds from the abbess of the Norbertine nuns of Zwierzyniec.
St Dorothy's Church stands on a hill in the Grodziec district of Będzin, known as St Dorothy's Hill. It is a 17th-century branch church of the parish of St Catherine, entered in the heritage register. It is surrounded by a wall of quarry stone.
The church was built in 1635 on the initiative of Father Wojciech Lipnicki, and funded by his relative Dorota Kącka, abbess of the Norbertine convent at Zwierzyniec in Kraków. Earlier a fire had damaged the parish church. It was consecrated on 10 October 1638 by the auxiliary bishop of Kraków, Tomasz Oborski. Until 1730 it served as a parish church, and then it had its own chaplain. In 1735 an altar of St Dorothy was built in it.
The church suffered in wartime. During the Partitions the graves were desecrated and the furnishings, including the organ, were carried away, and the building was used as a stable and fell into ruin. It was rebuilt in 1946 and consecrated again in 1947. In 1985 paintings with scenes from the life of St Dorothy were commissioned. The painting of Our Lady of Piekary, brought to the church in 1865, was stolen in 1968, and a copy was made in 1971.
The walls of stone and brick are 1-1.25 m thick and stand on a foundation of quarry stone. The area of the church is about 180 m², and the tower is about 20 m high.
Grodziec lies a few kilometres from the centre of Będzin, where Będzin Castle stands.
Be the first! Add a comment.
You need to log in to add a comment.
Log in