Saint Stanislaus church in Czemierniki, Renaissance church building in Czemierniki, Poland
Saint Stanislaus church in Czemierniki is a single-nave brick church with two side chapels and a narrower, semicircular-ended chancel. Its facade carries two towers 38 metres high, and the bright interior is covered by a barrel vault with lunettes. The chancel and chapel vaults are decorated with a network of stucco work.
Henryk Firlej, later Archbishop of Gniezno, founded the church, which was built between 1603 and 1614 and consecrated by him on 1 October 1617. Fires in 1711 destroyed the roof, and in 1813 retreating Napoleonic troops damaged the towers, roof and altars. Between 1874 and 1875 the parish priest Karol Mleczek had both towers raised and topped with double domes, a treasury added above the sacristy, and a portico built before the front elevation.
The church belongs to the Czemierniki deanery of the Archdiocese of Lublin and stands on the Lublin Renaissance Route, a marked trail linking Renaissance monuments of the region. Its patron is Saint Stanislaus, and the high altar shows two scenes of him: his martyrdom at the top and the raising of Piotrowin in the centre.
The site is accessible through a gate in the brick enclosure, making it easy to locate and enter the grounds. Visitors can walk around the exterior and explore the cemetery, which reflects the community's history over time.
On the rood arch, on the presbytery side, a cartouche bears the stucco artist's mark with the letters IW and the date 1614. The vault ribs are carved with egg-and-dart and bead mouldings, and rosettes, winged heads and eagles fill the panels. In the nave only traces of this stucco work survive.
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