St George's Church in Puńców

St George's Church in Puńców, built in 1518 in the late Gothic style, is the oldest surviving rural masonry church in Cieszyn Silesia. The parish church belongs to the Goleszów deanery of the Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec and is entered in the heritage register.

Form and extension

It is a single-nave, oriented church, built of stone and brick, braced on the outside with buttresses. The oldest part is the two-bay chancel, closed on three sides and separated from the nave by a pointed chancel arch. In 1902-1905 a new facade was added, and the wooden tower was replaced with a masonry neo-Gothic one. A bell from 1726 hangs in the tower. The roofs over the nave and chancel are gabled and covered with tiles.

Vault and furnishings

The most interesting element of the interior is the palm-and-star vault of the nave, supported on a single central octagonal pillar from which the ribs radiate. It is the only such vault in Cieszyn Silesia. In the chancel stands an altar from the old wooden church that predates 1518, and a late Gothic stone wall tabernacle with a wrought-iron grille from the early 16th century. The interior is completed by a sculpture of St John of Nepomuk from the 18th century, the epitaph of Jakub Dworzak, an official of the Cieszyn Chamber, from 1778, commemorative plaques about the building of the church, liturgical vessels from the second half of the 18th century and paintings from the 19th century.

Polychrome on the pillar

The lower part of the central pillar is covered by a polychrome 78 cm high and about 2 m wide, on all eight sides. It shows Gospel scenes (the widow's mite, the driving of the merchants from the temple) and pictures from the life of St Isidore the Farmer, with Czech inscriptions. Conservation work in 2012 established that the painting was made in the mid-17th century, certainly after 1622. It is regarded as one of the last works of so-called Cieszyn Mannerism. The donor is not known.

Nearby

Cieszyn is a few kilometres from here. In the town it is worth seeing the Rotunda of St Nicholas and the Piast Tower.

Practical information

• Address: ulica Sportowa 8, Puńców.
• This is an active parish church; check with the parish whether the interior can be entered.