Holy Trinity Church in Cieszyn

Holy Trinity Church stands on Plac Józefa Londzina in Cieszyn. It is a masonry church from 1594 in the Gothic-Renaissance style, today a Roman Catholic branch church of the parish of St Mary Magdalene. It is among the monuments entered in the heritage register.

The plague cemetery

The place is linked with the epidemic that lasted in Cieszyn from Whitsun to mid-October 1585. According to tradition, about three thousand victims were buried on this site at that time. The gardens set aside for the burials were donated by Duchess Sydonia Katarzyna, who also endowed a wooden chapel, the first Protestant church in Cieszyn. In 1594 it was replaced by a masonry church.

In 1654, during the Counter-Reformation, the church was taken from the Lutherans and handed over to the Catholics. The cemetery surrounding it began to be liquidated in 1865 and was closed in 1883, and in time the Holy Trinity Park was laid out in its place. Among others, Fr Leopold Szersznik, founder of the library and museum in Cieszyn, was buried here. One of the gravestones comes from the tomb of Gabriel Gerloff, the last mint master of Cieszyn.

Architecture

The church has a single nave and is built on a rectangular plan, with a gable roof. A lower chancel with a sacristy and a tower adjoins the nave. The façade is crowned with a late Renaissance gable from 1659, and above the entrance there are Gothic portals from the end of the 17th century. The Neo-Gothic tower dates from 1864, Renaissance-Baroque epitaphs are set into its walls, and inside hangs a bell from 1641 donated by Duchess Elżbieta Lukrecja.

The interior is covered by a barrel vault with lunettes. The high altar is late Baroque, two-storey, decorated with figures of St Teresa and St Hedwig, and the 19th-century paintings in it were painted by F. Dobischowski. After the Second World War the church received a polychrome decoration.

The legend

A legend written down in the mid-19th century is connected with the church. According to it, during the Tatar invasion of 1241 the townspeople took refuge in the mountains, and after the invaders miraculously departed they built a church dedicated to the Trinity. In 1585, during the plague, they were said to have vowed to rebuild it.

Practical information

• Address: Plac Józefa Londzina, Cieszyn, a few hundred metres from the Market Square.
• It is an active church, so the interior is visited outside services. The patronal festival falls on Trinity Sunday.
• Nearby stands the Baroque monastery complex of the Brothers Hospitallers.