Church of St James the Less in Myślenice
ul. Niepodległości 52, 32-400 Myślenice
Tourist region: Beskid Mały i Makowski
Despite the transformations to which the church in Stradom has been subjected over the centuries, the church is one of the examples of Gothic architecture in the district of Myślenice. As a single-nave building with a small three-sided chancel and with walls and corners strengthened by a system of buttresses, it presents a typical architectural layout of its time. Between 1800 and 1810 the church served as an Austrian military warehouse, later to be demolished and put up for auction. The church was bought by townsman Jan Tarczowski who in 1815, after renovation, handed it over to the municipal authorities. It was then dedicated to St James the Less. The interior decoration of the church is mainly Baroque and late-19th century. Baroque pews and crucifixes date from the 17th century. In the presbytery is a chapel with a fresco of the Head of Christ from the 17th century. The eclectic main altar from the end of the 19th century contains Neo-Romanesque elements and a painting of the Virgin and Child by Jan Jerzyczka from 1814. The adjacent cemetery was established in the early 19th century. It contains the graves of distinguished citizens of the city, Piłsudski's legionnaires, and one part of the cemetery contains the tombs of Polish soldiers killed in combat against the Germans during the September campaign of 1939. Adjacent to the northern nave of the church is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from 1925, to which a plaque has been added to commemorate 120 inhabitants of Myślenice who were victims of German terror during the 1939–45 occupation.