Kościół pw. Świętej Marii Magdaleny (ul. Dożynkowa)
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Prądnik Biały district. Date according to Wikidata: 1770. A listed monument (heritage register).
History
The church on Dożynkowa Street in Witkowice was built in the 21st century, but at its heart is a much older chapel. The free-standing, octagonal Baroque chapel was funded in the manor garden by Canon Jan Chryzostom Bodzenta, who from 1675 owned the village, which belonged to the Kraków cathedral chapter. He died in 1678. The chapel had a stone portal, and statues of the four Evangelists stood in niches beneath the windows. Of its original furnishings, a silver-gilt chalice bearing the founder's coat of arms has survived.
In the 18th century the chapel served the manor household, and on the feast of its patron saint, 22 July, solemn services were held here. After the partitions of Poland nobody looked after it, and by the end of the 19th century only bare, roofless walls were left. Canon Jozafat Sobierajski rebuilt it at his own expense, and on 22 June 1901 the chapel was solemnly blessed. A copy of the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, brought from Rome and blessed by Pope Leo XIII, was placed in the altar.
At Christmas 2000 a parish was created in Witkowice and the chapel became its parish church, far too small for the congregation. In September 2001 Cardinal Franciszek Macharski blessed the ground for a new church. The foundation stone, taken from the crypts of Wawel Cathedral, was laid on 17 April 2006 by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz. The first Midnight Mass in the still unfinished church was celebrated on the night of 24/25 December 2007, and the work continued until 2009. The historic chapel became part of the new church as a side chapel and has kept its old shape and decoration.
Did you know?
On the outer east wall of the chapel you can still see the foundation plaque with the Szeliga coat of arms and a Latin inscription commemorating Canon Bodzenta.