Church of Our Lady of the Help of the Faithful Dobczyce
ul. Kościelna 1, 32-410 Dobczyce
Tourist region: Pogórza
The deteriorating condition of the old Saint John the Baptist Church necessitated the construction of a new church. The decision to build a new church was taken in 1828. The wooden chapel of 1816 was replaced by a brick one. And the current, new Church of Our Lady of the Help of the Faithful was erected between 1947 and 1949 and consecrated in 2013.
Its interior is decorated with a figural-architectural polychrome from 1984–1988 by the Kraków artist Jerzy Witkowski, depicting the miracles and teachings of Jesus. The triptych of the main altar contains a polychrome Gothic Pietà from the 15th century, probably from the workshop of Veit Stoss. In the vestibule is a wooden Gothic crucifix from the second half of the 15th century and a statue of the Sorrowful Christ from the 18th century. One of the oldest monuments is a sandstone baptismal font from the 13th century, today serving as a stoup. The late Renaissance red marble baptismal font was funded in the 17th century by Dobczyce Starost Sebastian Lubomirski.
Between 2013 and 2018, the church was retrofitted and renovated: the frescoes were restored, the walls were repainted, the floor was replaced with granite, oak pews were made, ten stained-glass windows were installed in the circular windows, an organ was brought in, a granite staircase to the presbytery was built, a bell was hung in the tower and a staircase to the vault was built, and the Stations of the Cross were restored in the garden.