Zebrzydowa is a small village in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in the Nowogrodziec municipality, located on the border of the Izera Foothills and the Lower Silesian Forests. It is visited primarily by those looking for peace and places with an interesting history – but recently there has been another reason to come here.
The contemporary Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, built in 1977–1986 on the site of an older church, has received a new façade that today attracts everyone’s attention.
Zebrzydowa – a place with history
The village (formerly Siegersdorf) once belonged to the powerful Nostitz and Gersdorf families. Traces of this past have survived to this day: next to the church stands a tower dating from 1606, with a Renaissance portal decorated with the coats of arms of the von Schonaich and von Zedlitz families. The park from the mid-19th century is also included in the register of historic monuments maintained by the National Heritage Institute. It contains exceptional natural monuments – the Zenon pedunculate oak, approximately 400 years old, and the Boryna beech, approximately 250 years old.
Ceramic mosaic – unique in the region
The idea of creating the mosaic emerged during the renovation of the church façade. The aim was to use the region’s distinctive ceramics in a sacred space. The project was designed by Grzegorz Niemyjski, an artist associated with the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. The project was entrusted to a local ceramics company.
The process of decorating the façade with ceramic tiles had to be extremely precise. Each tile was marked because all of them later had to be placed in their proper positions. Every row and every element received its own number. The process also had its particular challenges – fired ceramics do not always retain exactly the same dimensions. Differences can be as much as a few tenths of a millimetre, which matters in such a large structure. The whole composition is decorated with approximately 1,800 handmade ceramic tiles measuring 15 × 15 cm!
Sagrada Familia just minutes from the city of ceramics
Zebrzydowa is 10 minutes by car from Bolesławiec, the capital of Polish ceramics. While visiting Bolesławiec, you can take a short walk to admire the church façade.
The inspiration reportedly came from the Iberian Peninsula, where many churches are decorated with ceramics, including the famous Sagrada Familia, as well as churches in Portugal, such as the famous Igreja do Carmo in Porto – whose side wall is decorated with an impressive ceramic mural depicting the calling of the Carmelite order.
The creation of the world, a rosette and a cross
The lower part of the composition refers to the creation of the world: the characteristic Bolesławiec peacock-eye motifs form constellations of stars. The rosette and cross above refer to Mary and Christ. The whole composition is 10 metres wide and 4.60 metres high. Approximately two years passed from the first idea to the moment when the mosaic was installed on the church.
Today, the ceramic composition is one of the most distinctive elements of the church façade in Zebrzydowa. It is also an example of how the local ceramic tradition can find its place in a completely new form.