Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Żydowo

The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Żydowo, in Polanów municipality, is a half-timbered church from the 18th century, a former Evangelical church, entered in the heritage register in 1966. It stands in a village also known for Poland's first pumped-storage power station.

History of the church

According to the parish website the first church in Żydowo was built in the 17th century. The present one, of timber-frame construction, was erected in 1764 on the site of an earlier one, whose foundation was probably uncovered during renovation in 2009. The Wikipedia entry on the village describes it as a half-timbered church with a small tower covered with a bell-shaped cap. After the Second World War the church was taken over by the Catholic Church and consecrated on 26 December 1945, and a parish under the dedication of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established in 1959.

Cemetery and surroundings

There used to be a churchyard around the church. In the 1920s a stone obelisk in honour of residents killed in the First World War was put up on it, and after 1945 the fence was moved so that the obelisk ended up outside it. On the north wall of the church a plaque was set in memory of the village's German residents. In the area around Żydowo there are numerous archaeological sites, and during the construction of the power station in the 1960s an early medieval cemetery with 22 barrows was discovered.

Practical information

• Address: Żydowo 17a, Polanów municipality, Koszalin County, about 50 km from Koszalin.
• Times of services and the possibility of entering the interior are given by the parish on its website.
• In the area stand the churches of St Teresa in Chocimin (about 4 km) and St Teresa of the Child Jesus in Drzewiany (about 6 km).