St Anne's Church in Tarnowskie Góry

St Anne's Church in Tarnowskie Góry was built in 1617-1619 as an Evangelical church, the second in the town after the parish church. Today it is a brick parish church listed in the heritage register.

From Evangelical to Catholic

The founders were a townswoman named Goske and the mayor Jakub Gruzelka, after whose first name it was originally called the Jakoskirche. The church stood outside the town walls, in the second Evangelical cemetery, beyond the Wrocław Gate, later the Gliwice Gate. Ten years after it was built it was formally taken away from the Evangelicals, and Catholics took it over in practice in 1653. In the interwar period it was the garrison church of the 3rd Silesian Uhlan Regiment and the 11th Infantry Regiment.

The building and furnishings

Over time a sacristy and chancel were added to the church, and the tower was rebuilt. In the high altar hangs an 18th-century painting depicting St Anne teaching the Virgin Mary. Inside, the epitaph of Marianna Kraker has survived, probably from the 17th century, and on the outer wall the badly damaged epitaph of a girl, Anna, from 1626.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Gliwicka 35a, Tarnowskie Góry, by the Town Park.
• The market square and Gwarków square are a few minutes' walk away.
• The rules for entering the active church are given by the parish on the website swanna.net.pl.