CHRONOGRAM (from the Greek chronos – time, gramma – letter) is an arrangement of Latin words in which the initial or highlighted letters form a specific date. In Bolesławiec, the most interesting monument of this type is a Baroque plaque with a chronogram, located above one of the entrances to the former Evangelical church (now the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Zamkowy Square). The text carved on the plaque reads: paX InstrVXII, Vasta Vbi prInCIpIs arX CaDIt araM qVaM fataLIa post beLLa saCrera Deo What it means: Where the abandoned ducal castle fell into ruin, peace erected an altar, which, after destructive wars, we dedicate to God. (trans. K.O.).
Yet this seemingly simple te xt conceals the date of construction of the Evangelical church itself. In the first two lines, after adding the Roman numerals: X, I, V, XI, V, V, I, C, I, I, X, C, D, I, M, we obtain the year 1752 – the date when construction of the church began; after adding the numerals from the third and fourth lines: V, M, L, L, C, D, we obtain the date 1756 – the year in which construction was completed.
The sculptures of St. Roch and St. Sebastian, located by the southern entrance to the parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also bear chronograms.