in Tadeusza Kościuszki Park in Katowice
About the exhibition
The wooden architectural ensemble of the church Saint Michael the Archangel from Syrynia, presently located in the Kościuszki Park, consists of a centrally located church, a free-standing belfry and a surrounding fence. The church has one nave, with a presbytery separated with a straight wall. It was most probably built in 1510, though there are sources confirming the existence of a wooden church in the little village of Syrynia as early as in 1306. The architectural form of the historic building differs slightly from the majority of churches in Upper Silesia. It displays features of a chapel rather than a church. For this reason, initially no tower was erected for it, only a pointed ridge turret, the so-called steeple. Above the main entrance, the roof overhang forms a hood for a small bell. Therefore, a church tower could not be located there. When, in the early 17th century, a need arose for the tower to be built, it was placed a few metres away, on the south side of the church.
The basic and, at the same time, the oldest elements of the temple are the presbytery and the nave. The rectangular presbytery is closed by a straight wall on the east side. Such closing is characteristic of the oldest 15th and 16th century religious buildings in Silesia. The nave is much wider and higher than the presbytery. Its dimensions allowed for the construction of the choir gallery on the west side (the entrance side) as well as on the north side of the church. The nave and presbytery walls are corner notched log construction, that is, pine logs are connected at quoins by the dovetail joints with protruding log ends, without the need of nails. Oak timber sills form a foundation for the walls, sticking slightly outside.
A rectangular sacristy, filling the bend between the wide nave and the narrower presbytery, complements the temple. It was built later and attached to the main body of the building by means of the so-called ”łątka”, a vertical post with indentations for perpendicular logs. The church was further expanded by the addition of a porch on the western side and a chapel (matroneum) on the north side of the nave. They were also joined with the main structure by means of ”łątka” in mid-17th century. Each of the components of the church was covered with a separate roof, thus creating the so-called Silesian arrangement.
Even today, it is possible to see the remains to the original polychromy in this oldest Katowice church. Apart from them, a stone gothic stoup, a 16th century figure of Virgin with Child and a baroque pulpit have been preserved. In May 1997, the president of Katowice decided to organise a museum point – a branch of the Museum of Katowice History – in the historic ensemble of Church of Saint Michael the Archangel.
Gallery
