St Mark's Cemetery Chapel in Sławków

St Mark's Chapel stands in the cemetery in Sławków and belongs to the parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The present building dates from the first half of the 19th century, and earlier a wooden chapel stood on this site, mentioned in 1602. Together with the charnel houses of 1839 built into the cemetery wall, it is entered in the heritage register.

Architecture

The chapel was built of stone and plastered. It has a rectangular plan ending in a semicircular apse, a four-sided porch and a gabled sheet-metal roof with a six-sided ridge turret. The heritage register describes the style as classicist. The dedication to St Mark is attested as early as 1746.

Interior

The polychrome from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries creates an illusion of space: pilasters and drapery are painted, along with a frieze of skulls and crossbones and a ceiling painting of the Crucifixion group among the souls in purgatory. The altar from 1632, of unknown origin, is the oldest altar in Sławków. The black retable is divided by four small columns, and figures of holy virgins stand in shell-shaped niches.

Nearby

In the town centre, a few hundred metres away, stands the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross and St Nicholas.

Practical information

• Location: the cemetery in Sławków.
• The chapel is an active cemetery building, and the interior is usually closed outside services; check availability with the parish.