Inside, there is a number of preserved fixtures and fittings of unique historical significance.

History

The village of Domaniewice was probably founded in the 14th century. It was the property of the bishops of Gniezno.

The brick chapel was erected between 1631-1633. It was ordered to be built by the brothers Wojciech Albert and Jakub Celest - Krakow burghers and merchants of Italian origin, who were leaseholders of the nearby village of Czatolin at that time. By building the chapel, they wanted to thank the Mother of God for their business success. It was consecrated by the Archbishop of Gniezno, Jan Wężyk, on 15 October 1633. The chapel contains a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child dating to 1640, painted on a wooden plank. The painting was modelled on the works depicting Our Lady of the Snows from the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. The Domaniewice painting was dedicated to the Mother of God, the Comforter of the Afflicted, and the Mother of Beautiful Love. In the 17th century, it was adorned with crowns and in 1760 it was also veiled with silver robes. It became a place of worship and pilgrimage, famous for its miraculous powers. The original crowns were stolen. The re-coronation took place in September 2000.

The western porch was added in 1795. The chapel is surrounded by a wall with gates, which was built in 1811 and modified in 1873. The renovations of the chapel were carried out in 1860-1861 and in 1872.

In 1975, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, elevated the chapel to the rank of a sanctuary - the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Domaniewice, the Comforter of the Afflicted.

Description

The chapel was erected to the west of the Głowno-Łowicz road. It stands in a small elevated area, in the middle of a land plot enclosed by a wall, with gates on the axes. It faces south-west.

It was built on a floor plan resembling a square with truncated southern and western corners. Adjacent to the south-eastern wall is an apse on a semicircular floor plan with a sacristy added from the east. The sacristy was built on the floor plan of a rectangle. In the southern and western corners of the front elevation, there are towers built on a floor plan resembling three-quarters of a circle. In the towers, there are spiral stairs and ancillary rooms. On the axis of the western elevation, a porch was added in 1795. It was built on the floor plan of a rectangle with rounded corners.

The chapel was built from solid bricks, plastered outside and inside. The external and internal portals were made from light grey marble. The nave was covered with a dome on pendentives, with a lantern. The apse has a hemispherical vault, and a groin vault above the sacristy. Each part of the chapel has a separate roof, clad with copper sheet. The sacristy is gabled, the porch is covered with a three-hipped roof and over the towers there are onion-shaped cupolas.

The walls of the chapel are set on a low plinth. They are smoothly plastered, topped with a stepped crowning cornice, running along the entire structure. The elevations of the western porch are articulated by pilasters, with smooth shafts, placed on profiled bases. Their capitals are incorporated in the design of the under-eaves cornice encircling the building.

The stone portals and the rectangular entrance openings are clearly visible against the background of the walls. Around each entrance, there is a flat strip surrounded by a profiled frame Above the opening, there is a section of a profiled cornice topped with a smooth frieze. In the western, southern and northern elevations, there are circular window openings, placed centrally under the crowning cornice. Deeply set windows, in slightly splayed recesses, are divided into smaller sections by muntins. In the western elevation, there is a blind window containing an image of the Virgin Mary with the Child, painted on a wooden board. In the southern wall of the apse, there is a rectangular window opening topped with a full arch. On the towers, under the crowning cornice, there are two small, rectangular window openings in a profiled frame. There are four deeply set, wooden windows, each divided into four sections.

In the outer portals, there are contemporary doors with wood or metal panelling. The dome is topped with an openwork lantern. Its walls are made of tall, rectangular windows, topped with a full arch. The windows are separated by pilasters with fluted shafts. The dome has an onion-shaped roof with a pinnacle surmounted by a cross.

Inside, smoothly plastered walls are divided into three levels by stepped cornices. The wainscoting is topped with a socle cornice. There is also a cornice at the base of the vault, which encircles the interiors. The chancel opening is terminated with a full arch. The semicircular plates and the inside of the dome are accentuated by a wide surround with half-round moulding. On the ceiling of the apse, there are stucco, profiled rectangular frames with ears. The apse has a stone floor. In the porch, there is a wooden plank floor.

The interior furniture and fittings include the main altar from the 18th century, a pulpit and a wooden choir gallery, resting on two pillars (erected after 1765). In the choir gallery, there is a pipe organ casing from 1825 shaped like an eagle with outstretched wings. The two side altars date to 1760. The one on the northern side presents the Flagellated Christ, the other one depicts Saint Francis.

In the main altar, there is a painting of Our Lady of Domaniewice, famous for its miraculous powers.

The church is open to the public all year round. It can be toured inside upon prior arrangement by phone. www.parafiadomaniewice.eu

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 27 March 2020

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Vol. II, woj. łódzkie, pow. łowicki, Warszawa 1953 r., pp. 14-15
• Miłobędzki A., Architektura polska XVII wieku, Warszawa 1980 r., p. 268
• https://www.styl.pl/podroze/news-sanktuarium-matki-bozej-w-domaniewicach,nId,2536433#utm_source=paste&utm_medium=paste&utm_campaign=firefox