Parish Church of St. Catherine

Church of St. Catherine, built in 1672, was founded by Rojowski brothers. It was damaged during operations of WWII.

The church, oriented eastwards, represents Gothic style, and comprises a single nave as well as a narrower chancel enclosed with semi-hexagonal walls, a tower on the western side and two lower annexes. The roof and the walls are clad with shingles. The porch was added along the nave in 1874–1881. It is a log structure, while the tower is a post-and-beam structure.

Inside, the church is covered with wooden ceilings. The rood beam supports a Baroque crucifix from the 17th century. In the chancel there is a Baroque high altar, as old as the building itself. It was expanded in the 18th century. The central panel comprises a painting of St. Catherine framed with two columns, as well as sculptures of St. Mary Margaret and St. Catherine, and representations of Sts. James and Joachim. The tabernacle is dated to 1700. Two neo-Baroque side altars were added in 1872–1874. The left-side altar comprises a picture of the Holy Mother and the Child from the 1800s, and above it an image of St. John Cantius from the 1700s. The right-side altar features representations of the Heart of Jesus and St. Paul.

Other features inside include a baptismal font from the early 1500s, decorated with Leliwa coat of arms, eclectic-style pulpit from the 1800s, rococo organ casing from the 1700s, as well as paintings depicting Saint Florian (from 1784), and the Mother of God from the late 1800s.

The church is surrounded with a stone wall erected in 1873–1881.

Located in the proximity of Gogołów, the village of Smarzowa is the birthplace of Jakub Szela, a leader of the 1846 peasant uprising which started here and spread across the entire Galicia region.

In the parish cemetery there is a family tomb-chapel of the Denkert family.

Photo: Krystian Kłysewicz

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