Saint James the Greater church in Małujowice, Gothic church in Małujowice, Poland.
Saint James the Greater church in Małujowice is a Gothic brick hall church with a flat-ceilinged nave, a two-bay rectangular choir, and a square west tower topped by an octagonal spire. A 15th-century stone wall with pointed-arch gates surrounds it. Inside, nearly 1,000 square metres of medieval wall paintings cover the nave, chancel and rood arch.
A church in Małujowice was first mentioned in 1288 and probably built around 1250 under Duke Henry III the White, with work continued after 1266 by Henry IV Probus. The present brick hall church dates largely from the early 14th century and was rebuilt in the 14th century under Samborius. A west tower was added around 1400, and the church became Protestant in 1533, serving the evangelical community until 1945.
The church's dedication to Saint James places it on the Opole–Lower Silesian section of the Way of St. James from Brzeg to Oława. It is the main stop on the Brzeg Trail of Medieval Polychromies and was named one of Poland's Seven New Wonders by National Geographic Traveler readers.
The church stands in the village centre on the main road, enclosed by a 15th-century stone wall with pointed-arch gates on the west and east sides. The wall and former churchyard are listed alongside the building. Visitors enter through these gates; the interior is used for parish worship.
The church is nicknamed the "Silesian Sistine Chapel" because its Last Judgment on the chancel arch echoes the scene in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. Its painted ceiling, 258 square metres on 640 fir boards, is the largest of its kind in Poland.
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