Church of St Roch in Zamarski

The wooden Church of St Roch stands in the centre of Zamarski, a village in Hażlach municipality in Cieszyn Silesia. The church was built in 1731, and its tower is older, dating from the end of the 16th century. The church is part of the Wooden Architecture Trail of the Silesian Voivodeship.

History

The first wooden church in Zamarski burned down before 1585 or in that year. The rebuilt bell tower with a new bell then served as a cemetery bell tower. Today's church was built onto it in 1731 at the expense of Henryk Fryderyk of the Wilczek family. At first Jesuits worked in it as missionaries of the bishop, and after the order was dissolved in 1773 it was a filial church of the Cieszyn parish, later of the parish in Hażlach. It was originally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It received the dedication to St Roch in 1981, when the parish was established.

Structure

The church is oriented and has a wooden log construction on a stone foundation. The chancel, closed on three sides, and the nave form a single body under a common gable roof covered with shingles. Shingles also cover the eaves canopies resting on braces and the pyramidal helm of the older tower, which is of post construction. Under the helm is a false upper storey, and the tower is adjoined by soboty with horizontally boarded walls. In the heritage register the building is dated to the first half of the 18th century.

Interior

Above the interior stretches a flat ceiling, and the walls are covered with horizontal panelling. The high altar has a painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Two Baroque side altars, together with the pulpit, were bought after 1884 from the hospital Church of St George in Cieszyn. One holds a carved figure of St Anne, the other a figure of St John Nepomuk with a painting of St Charles Borromeo, which in the mid-19th century a Cieszyn merchant gave to the church there. On the front balustrade of the gallery stand figures of St Barbara and St Catherine, moved from the previous high altar.

Practical information

• Address: ulica Cieszyńska 1, Zamarski.
• It is an active parish church; check with the parish whether you can enter outside services.
• It is about five kilometres from here to Cieszyn. There you can see, for example, the Rotunda of St Nicholas and St Wenceslas and the town hall.