Saint Margaret church in Odporyszów, Catholic parish church in Odporyszów, Poland
The church of the Purification of the Virgin Mary in Odporyszów is a Baroque, single-nave, oriented building with a gable roof and a neo-Baroque turret above the nave. Beside it stands a free-standing Baroque bell tower with a gate at its base, topped by a lanterned helm. Inside, barrel vaults with lunettes carry eclectic figurative and ornamental polychromy from the first half of the 20th century, and most furnishings are Rococo.
The first documented church in Odporyszów, dedicated to St. Margaret, was a wooden building used from the 15th to the 18th century. The present church was built between 1672 and 1702 on the initiative of Father Jacek Pokorski, with funding from the Stadnicki and Makowiecki families. Bishop Michał Szembek, suffragan of Kraków, consecrated it in 1716. In 1915 fighting in the area damaged the church and bell tower, which were rebuilt after World War I.
The church is a regional Marian sanctuary. Its main altar, made in 1751, holds a Renaissance painting of the Mother of God with the Child, Saint Adalbert and Saint Stanislaus, from the second half of the 16th century, fitted with Baroque metal dresses. On 15 August 1937 Bishop Franciszek Lisowski of Tarnów crowned the image. Since 1991 the parish museum named after Jan Wnęk has displayed the artist's work.
The church stands in Odporyszów, about 50 km from Kraków, and can be reached by car or public transport. The Baroque bell tower with its gate stands beside the church. The parish museum named after Jan Wnęk operates at the church and lies on the Małopolska Wooden Architecture Route.
The parish museum by the church, opened in 1991, is named after Jan Wnęk and displays his work; it lies on the Małopolska Wooden Architecture Route, though the church itself is brick and stone.
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