Museums
a Neoclassical Dietrichstein palace from the 1740s, now the seat of the town museum
Churches and monasteries
brick Neo-Gothic church of 1911 with a 40-metre tower by the market square
Churches and monasteries
church built entirely by parishioners as voluntary work in 1948-1950
Churches and monasteries
Neo-Baroque church from 1929, built on the site of the medieval church of the village of Radlin
Churches and monasteries
church from the 1980s with relics of St Herbert and a three-metre sculpture of the patron in the chancel
Churches and monasteries
church from 1949-1952 on the site of a 17th-century wooden church, Jedłownik parish
Churches and monasteries
post-war church on a hill with 22 steps from ulica Paderewskiego and a cross-shaped nave
Historic sites
synagogue from 1826 in the town centre, rebuilt as a secular building from 1938
Viewpoints
a Neo-Gothic brick viewing tower in the forest, rebuilt after the fire of 2004
a church from the 1960s in Wilchwy with a figure of St Barbara from the lamp room of the 1 Maja mine
Churches and monasteries
a parish church in the 1 Maja estate, consecrated in 2010, with a bell tower from 2020
Churches and monasteries
a 14th-century Gothic church and a Baroque Franciscan monastery, Evangelical since 1830
Historic sites
an early 19th-century palace in a 30-hectare park with eight ponds, a retreat house since 1928
Solo in Wodzisław Śląski: the Dietrichstein Palace, the Romantic Tower, a former Franciscan monastery and the district churches make a one-day plan.
Wodzisław Śląski is a town that is pleasant to explore alone: the best monuments stand close to the Market Square, and farther out lie districts with their own churches and a wood on Grodzisko hill. Ideas for lone visitors are collected in the section on things to do alone in Silesia; the town as a whole is presented on the Wodzisław Śląski page.
Start with the Dietrichstein Palace, also called the castle, at Kubsza 2. The building went up in the 1740s where a medieval castle had stood, a two-storey Classicist structure of masonry. The town museum has worked there since 1971, which makes the palace a good rainy-hour stop. Details and neighbouring sites are described in the article on the palace, the Minorites and the square.
Not far away stands the neo-Gothic Church of the Assumption at Kościelna 1, a brick church built in 1909-1911 to plans by Ludwig Schneider from Wrocław, with a tower 40 metres tall. In the north-western part of the square you will see the Franciscan monastery complex at Minorytów 6A: a Gothic church of the fourteenth century and a Baroque monastery building of the seventeenth. The convent existed from 1257, and today the complex holds an Evangelical church and a court.
Also in the centre is the former synagogue on Targowa street. It was built in 1826, rebuilt from 1938 and given secular uses. You cannot go inside, but the shape of the building recalls the Jewish community that once lived in the town.
The Romantic Tower, called the Knights' Bastion, is a neo-Gothic viewing tower in the wood on Grodzisko hill. The brick structure of 1867-1868 is about 20 m high and was funded by Edward Brauns, then owner of the town. After a fire it was rebuilt, and visitors can climb it from 2021. It makes a good spot for a quiet walk with a view.
In Kokoszyce stands a palace from the early nineteenth century, surrounded by a wide landscape park (about 30 ha) with eight ponds. Since 1928 it has housed an archdiocesan retreat house, so the interiors serve mainly its guests, while the surroundings are open for walking.
The neo-Baroque Church of St Mary Magdalene is the landmark of Radlin II, built in 1929-1930. In Wilchwy you will find the Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa of 1967-1968, with keepsakes from the 1 Maja mine, and the youngest, the Church of St Lawrence, which has grown since 2010 from a temporary chapel.
In Kokoszyce the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of 1948-1950 was put up by the residents themselves as voluntary work. On a hill in Zawada rises the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, built on a cross plan, with 22 steps before its gate. St Herbert's on Radlińska street dates from the communist period (1983-1990). The Jedłownik parish has the Church of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces of 1949-1952, built after the war.
Begin with the palace, the Assumption church and the Franciscan complex near the square, and finish at the Romantic Tower on Grodzisko.
Since 1971. The palace stands right by the market square.
Yes, it has been open since 2021. It is about 20 metres high and stands in the wood on Grodzisko.
No, the building is not open to visitors. It stands on Targowa street.
