Holy Trinity Church in Cieszyn

The Church of the Holy Trinity in Cieszyn is a Roman Catholic filial temple whose history dates back to 1585. During a plague epidemic, Duchess Sydonia Katarzyna funded an Evangelical church at the cemetery where approximately 3,000 victims were buried. Originally built as a wooden chapel, it was transformed into a brick church in 1594. Over the years, it came under Catholic ownership and became a filial church of the Parish of Saint Mary Magdalene. The surrounding cemetery was closed between 1865 and 1883 and converted into Holy Trinity Park. Among those buried there are notable figures, including Father Leopold Szersznik and Gabriel Gerloff, the last mint master of Cieszyn. Built in a Gothic-Renaissance style, the church features a single-nave structure with a three-bay nave and a presbytery with a tower. Its interior furnishings include a Baroque altar, numerous paintings, and epitaphs embedded in the walls. An interesting legend connects the church to the Tatar invasion of 1241, when the people of Cieszyn, in gratitude for their salvation, vowed to build a church—a promise fulfilled during the difficult times of the 1585 epidemic. Holy Mass is regularly celebrated on holidays and for various intentions, forming an integral part of the spiritual life of the local community.