Saint Catherine church in Bierutów, Gothic church building in Bierutów, Poland.
Saint Catherine church is an oriented Gothic brick basilica with a three-aisled nave and a narrower rectangular chancel. A massive square tower stands at the northwest corner, and a sacristy adjoins the chancel on the southeast. The nave has a cross-ribbed vault, while the side aisles and chancel have barrel vaults with lunettes; a 16th-century crypt lies beneath the chancel.
A Gothic church existed by the 14th century, when a parish priest named Jan is recorded in 1300; it was enlarged in the 15th century. Fires in 1603 and 1659 destroyed the interior, part of the vaults, the tower and the gable wall. Rebuilding from 1661 was financed by Duke Sylvius Nimrod of Württemberg, and the tower and west gable were restored in 1679–1680. After 1945 the church was devastated and looted, and the parish regained it in 1982.
The church is a Roman Catholic auxiliary church of the parish of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Bierutów. Its dedication to Saint Catherine of Alexandria is recalled in the name used in Polish records, Kościół św. Katarzyny Aleksandryjskiej. The building also served as the castle church, which explains the ducal box and the coats of arms of Duke Christian Ulrich of Württemberg and Anna Elisabeth von Anhalt-Bernburg on the north nave gallery.
The church is located in central Bierutów and is easily accessible on foot since it occupies a prominent position in town. Visitors should be aware that access and hours may vary depending on religious services and community events.
The 1934 Sauer organ, opus 1498, had 44 stops in four divisions of eleven each and was built into the existing Baroque case. In 1949 it was dismantled and taken to Inowrocław, where it was reassembled with a different appearance in the church of St Nicholas.
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