Old Parish Church of St. Ivo, and Mother Mary Health of the Sick

We do not know when exactly the first church was built in Iwonicz-Zdrój. The oldest records from 1842 and 1844 mention a small chapel, situated in the eastern part of the spa resort, and used by visitors. Today at this specific site there is a bus stop, and an obelisk commemorating the chapel.

Church of St. Ivo, and Mother Mary Health of the Sick was built in 1894−1895, to the design of an Austrian architect Favorger. The chapel was founded by Count Karol Załuski, owner of the spa resort.

The church is a frame structure supported on stone foundations, and its outer walls are clad with vertical wood boards. It has a rectangular floor plan. This is a three-nave basilica-type church without a separate structure of the chancel. The main nave is covered with a double-pitched roof featuring two bell turrets and polyhedron-shaped cupolas. The side naves are covered with mono-pitched roofs.

Inside, the main nave is separated from the side naves with three pairs of pillars connected with flat arcades. The rafter frame is open inside. The rectangular multi-panel windows are created by rows of arcade-type bars.

The furnishings, dating from the late 19th century, include a neo-Gothic high altar and two eclectic side altars. There is also a noteworthy painting of St. John the Evangelist from around 1900, whose style makes a reference to English Pre-Raphaelites.

The landmark is an example of a wooden spa-town church with neo-Gothic features. In its vicinity there is a new brick church of Mother Mary Health of the Sick.

Photo: Krystian Kłysewicz

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