Holy Family Church in Zakopane

Monuments

Słoneczny dzień. Widok z góry na duży kościół z kamienia z wysoką wieżą i mniejszymi okrągłymi po bokach. Z szeroką nawą, z trzema parami drzwi. Dach wąski, dwuspadowy, kryty blachą. Z tyłu mała sygnaturka. Przed kościołem wysokie schody. Za kościołem zabudowania i drzewa. Po prawej dwa rzędy drzew i pomiędzy nimi ulica.
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ul. Krupówki 1a, 34-500 Zakopane Tourist region: Tatry i Podhale

tel. +48 182012441

The tall stone temple was built at Krupówki Street in the late 19th century, at a time when Zakopane was evolving into the capital of the Tatra Mountains and Podhale. This is the oldest brick temple in the city and has served as the Sanctuary of the Holy Family since 2016. In 1997 it hosted Pope John Paul II.

The construction of the temple in 1877 was started by the first parish priest of Zakopane, Father Józef Stolarczyk. The project was prepared by the architect Józef Pius Dziekoński. Construction, with hard mountain sandstone and limestone lasted until 1896 thanks to the generosity of the parishioners and Count Władysław Zamoyski, the owner of the Zakopane estate.

It is a Neo-Gothic, three-nave basilica with a transept, a narrower presbytery in semi-circular form, a quadrilateral tower, two round stair turrets and narrow Neo-Romanesque windows. A gable roof with one ridge covers the nave and presbytery over the side aisles. The side aisles are adjoined by three-sided chapels, and the presbytery is adjoined by a chapel and sacristy.

The interior is a mixture of the following styles: Neo-Romanesque, Neo-Gothic, Highlander, Stanisław Witkiewicz's Zakopane style, and the so-called Zakopane method. The nave and presbytery have cross vaults. Janusz Kotarbiński created a beautiful polychrome on the walls of the presbytery, depicting a highlander interpretation of the Eight Beatitudes, where Count Władysław Zamoyski and Father Józef Stolarczyk can be seen among the presented figures. The polychrome on the presbytery vault is the work of Piotr Niziński, a pupil of Jan Matejko. The stained-glass windows on the outside, covered by grilles, were designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz. The main altar from 1903, the work of Kazimierz Wakulski, is a colourful, realistic triptych with a sculpture of the Holy Family. Wakulski also made the pulpit, baptismal font and wooden stalls. In the side aisles are altars from the School of Wood Engineering designed by Stanislaw Witkiewicz and modified by Edgar Kovats.

A valuable monument in the Zakopane style is the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz in 1899. Its interior is decorated in dark green and blue, illuminated by two stained glass windows in shades of green. The painting of Saint John the Baptist against the backdrop of Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy, work of Stanisław Witkiewicz, shows the face of the painter himself. The chapel also has a tiled stove, carved benches, a pulpit and confessionals.

In the square in front of the church stands a wooden cross with a crown of thorns from 1861, and next to it there is a stone grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. It is surrounded by a metal fence with stone pillars in which the Stations of the Cross can be seen.