St. Andrew's Church in Sieciechowice

The Church of St. Andrew in Sieciechowice is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the Iwanowice municipality of Kraków County. It was built in 1312, most likely funded by Brandys, a Knight of Malta. The oldest known references to the church date back to 1325–1327, and over the following centuries, the building was expanded and renovated several times. At the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, a wider nave and a presbytery were added, covered with a vault. The church was consecrated by Bishop Tomasz Oborski on July 25, 1624, and was partially destroyed by fire in 1654. In the 18th or 19th century, porches were added to the main and side entrances. The church features Gothic architecture, is oriented, and has a single nave. The presbytery is made of stone, rectangular in shape, buttressed, and covered with a ribbed cross vault supported by pyramidal corbels. The nave is rectangular with a ceiling, and the roof was originally covered with wood shingles. The external appearance of the church is complemented by a Neo-Gothic porch. An additional value of the site is an 18th-century bell tower in the gate tower style. It is a free-standing, two-story wooden structure with slanted walls and chamfered corners, topped with a broken helmet spire. The cultural aspects of the church are expressed through its furnishings, which are uniformly Rococo in style. Inside, there is a Baroque image of the Virgin Mary in robes, a late Baroque music choir from around 1739, and three Rococo altars. A notable feature includes portraits of Stanisław August Poniatowski and Primate Michał Poniatowski from 1787, painted on sheet metal to commemorate their visit. The oldest marble epitaphs date back to the 17th century, and among the valuable decorative elements is a Pietà made of polychromed linden wood and a Rococo pulpit. The church, along with its bell tower, is listed in the register of immovable monuments of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, highlighting its historical and architectural significance for the region. The site not only testifies to a rich cultural tradition but also plays an important role in the life of the local community.