Bell tower

Abstract

According to Piotr Szlezynger, a researcher of the church in Niegowić, the bell tower was created in 1771. Initially, the bell tower was located on the southern side of the wooden temple, and since 1973 it has been placed on the axis of the entrance to the new church. On 9 April, 1960, it was entered in the register of objects of cultural heritage of the Małopolskie province. Previous bells hung in the bell tower were cast in 1921, but they were confiscated by Germans during World War Two. These were called: the Bell of Madonna of Częstochowa, St. Stanislaus and St. Casimir. The current ones, with the images of Madonna of Częstochowa, St. Stanislaus and St. Casimir, were ordered in 1946 in the foundry of Karol Szwalbe in Bielsko-Biała in 1946. The bells were solemnly consecrated on 22 September, 1946. Previously, the bell tower was a part of the whole sacral construction with a wooden church, which was moved to Mętków. Mętków was the place where its copy was created. The bell tower in Niegowić, according to Marian Kornecki, should be described beyond the accepted general systematics of sacral architecture of this type. It is a bell tower of an atypical, brick-and-wooden type. Similar combination of materials can be found in brick churches, on which a tower with a wooden bell part was placed (a church in Dębno near Wojnicz, in Ruszcza and Gnojnik - in the two latter, floors were replaced with brick ones in the 20th century), and also in a detached bell tower standing by the St. Catherine's Church in Kraków and by the church in Raciborowice. Next to the bell tower, there was a wooden church of carcass construction on the 1771 foundation, moved to Mętków. Similar sacral constructions with a detached bell tower can be found in wooden churches of the 18th century half in the Małopolska province, particularly in Gołcza, Cerekiew, Krzyżanowice and Więcławice.