Spa Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven (Kaplica Zdrojowa Najświętszej Maryi Panny Królowej Niebios) Szczawnica

Monuments

Słoneczny dzień. Na wprost gruby pień drzewa, za nim po prawej las w kolorach jesieni i jasna, murowana mała kaplica z dwiema małymi wieżami po bokach i wieżyczką po środku. Z szerokimi drzwiami i małym okrągłym okienkiem nad nimi. Po lewej dwuspadowy dach murowanego budynku ze zdobieniami z drewna. Za nim zalesione wzgórze i bezchmurne niebo.

Park Górny, 34-460 Szczawnica Tourist region: Pieniny i Spisz

A neo-Gothic chapel rises on the edge of the Upper Park in Szczawnica, just above the Szwajcarka Górna Villa.

The chapel was founded and designed by Józef Szalay, a Polish publisher of Hungarian origin and a Galician official, considered to be the founder of the Szczawnica spa, which he inherited from his father Stefan Szalay and undertook its complete reconstruction. The chapel was built in Park Górny between 1844 and 1847 at the request of patients there wasn't enough space for everyone in the small wooden church far from the spa. It was consecrated in 1847.

The neo-Gothic chapel was built of white stone on a rectangular plan, with a trilateral closed presbytery. On a tin gable roof, with a triple-pitched finial over the chancel, rises a signature turret covered by a marquee roof with a triangular abutment. The elevations are decorated with a pseudo-crown. The façade is crowned by a triangular stepped gable with scarps in the form of low turrets with cornices and lanterns. A pointed portal leads to the single-space interior with a pointed vault. Above the entrance is an inscription: ‘To God’. The walls in the interior are decorated with a moulded cornice and patronal polychrome, the side walls show large Gothic windows, and there are round windows above the altar and doorway.

The original furnishings of the chapel were donations from the family and friends of Józef Szalay and visitors to the chapel. Kostkowski donated the relic of a tree from the Holy Cross to the temple. The neo-Gothic altar of the Saviour of the World, dating from 1848, contains an oil painting of the Virgin and Child, thought to be the work of Józef Szalay or possibly Konrad Coghen. Three marble plaques inside, founded by Józef Szalay and Onufry Trembicki, are dedicated to members of the Szalay family – Stefan, Józefina, and Józef.

Next to the chapel is an old larch tree, which is a natural monument.