Church of the Transfiguration in Jabłonka

Monuments

Widok z lotu ptaka na biały murowany kościół z wieżą zwieńczoną baniastym hełmem od frontu. Dwuspadowy, kryty jasną blachą dach nawy ozdobiony jest niewielką sygnaturką. Wokół kościoła chodnik i trawa, teren ogrodzony. Przed bramą wejściową na jezdni zapisane dwie daty: 1566 i 2016. Kościół położony na niewielkim wzgórzu, wokół zieleń, dużo drzew, w tle widać góry i zabudowania. Niebo mocno zachmurzone.

ul. Jana Pawła II 20, 34-480 Jabłonka Tourist region: Beskid Żywiecki i Orawa

tel. +48 182652327

The church was built at the beginning of the 19th century in a style that combined elements of Baroque and Classicism. This type of 'Josephinist' architecture was very popular at the time on the border between Galicia and Hungary.

The present church in Jabłonka, a village at the foot of Mt Babia, is the second church. The first was built of wood and was located on the site of the present cemetery. It existed from the 16th to the mid-19th century. It burned down in 1608 and was rebuilt a few years later. Religious struggles in this area weakened religious life in Upper Orava, including Jabłonka. A Protestant church was erected, whereas Catholics prayed in the woods or later in the church in Orawka. After the victory of Catholicism over Lutheranism, probably at the end of the 17th century, Protestants were deprived of churches. Catholic churches were consecrated throughout Upper Orava, including the church in Jabłonka, which became a branch of the church in Orawka.

The brick Church of the Transfiguration was built under the direction of Father Józef Janiczak between 1802 and 1807 as a replacement for a wooden church It was made in the 'Josephine' style, i.e., a combination of classicism and Baroque. A tower topped by a spherical cupola is built into the church nave, creating a unified front to the sanctuary. The nave’s gabled, light tin roof is decorated with a small ridge turret.

Several of the furnishings that were transferred from the old church to the new building have survived to the present day. These include the late Baroque statues of the four holy virgins and the rococo Passion Play with figures of the Virgin Mary, St John the Evangelist and St Mary Magdalene. The main furnishings in the church today are three altars made in the early 20th century in the South Tyrol workshop, a pulpit from 1869 and an organ imported from Hungary in 1914.