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A. Repelewicz
located, because the authorities issued permits for construction on the fringes of the
residential areas, so that the churches would not be the central points of these new
districts.
An example of a church with a very unfavorable location is the church of St. Albert
Chmielowski. A construction permit, then for the parish of St. Andrzej Bobola, was
issued by the provincial authorities in 1978, after very long efforts to properly locate
the place of worship. The voivodship authorities designated a site for construction
on Narcyzowa street in Czestochowa. It was a plot of land without the necessary
installations, situated in an agricultural area, away from buildings. The pretext for
this malicious decision of the then authorities was the planned construction of the
North II housing estate. In total, in the near future, the parish was supposed to have
40,000 residents and the church was built for such a number of faithful. However,
plans to build the new housing estate were not implemented, and the parish currently
has 1700 inhabitants. The church is far too large for this number of parishioners
and therefore difficult to maintain. It was built over a period of 13 years and to this
day some rooms are still not finished. The conceptual design projected building on
a circular plan with a diameter of 40 m, in the technical design the diameter was
reduced to 36 m. The designed sacristy behind the presbytery zone and the choir loft,
which was supposed to be above it, were not implemented due to financial difficulties.
A further example of a difficult localization is the site of St. Stanislaus Kostka
Roman Catholic Church. The church was built on a small plot of land on
Dabkowskiego Street in a densely built-up area of the city. One of the walls of
the church adjoins a block of flats and the front elevation is situated directly on the
frontage of the street. The church building, therefore, does not have parking facilities and, also, there is no possibility for a procession to walk around it. The idea
of building a church on such a small plot of land resulted from a growing need to
provide the inhabitants of the centre of Czestochowa, where there was a scarcity of
undeveloped plots, with a parish. Despite the lack of space next to the church, the
area was endowed with some small architectural elements: a cross and a statue of a
saint. Additionally, there are two blue spruces planted on either side of the entrance
and a lawn with shrubs along the wall, and next to the presbytery there is another
silver spruce. Owing to this the whole building seems to be surrounded with greenery
and differs from the neighbourhood.
The above objects are examples of how religious architecture was treated in
communist times. Many churches, not only in Czestochowa, but all over Poland
received plots in unfavorable locations or with an unfavorable configuration and
size. This defined the years 1945–1989.
It was not until 1989 that churches were built in all districts where there were
no parishes. At present, due to the desire for churches to be close to where their
congregations live, very large churches have been allocated to new smaller parishes.
The churches built since then are much smaller and easier to maintain. Very large
churches, often with an area of over 1000 m
2 , are today definitely too large for the
reduced number of faithful. Some churches were built too close to existing ones. An
example eing the church of St. Kazimierz the Prince, which was built on the same
street as the church of St. Adalbert Bishop and the Martyr, which is a very large
A. Repelewicz
located, because the authorities issued permits for construction on the fringes of the
residential areas, so that the churches would not be the central points of these new
districts.
An example of a church with a very unfavorable location is the church of St. Albert
Chmielowski. A construction permit, then for the parish of St. Andrzej Bobola, was
issued by the provincial authorities in 1978, after very long efforts to properly locate
the place of worship. The voivodship authorities designated a site for construction
on Narcyzowa street in Czestochowa. It was a plot of land without the necessary
installations, situated in an agricultural area, away from buildings. The pretext for
this malicious decision of the then authorities was the planned construction of the
North II housing estate. In total, in the near future, the parish was supposed to have
40,000 residents and the church was built for such a number of faithful. However,
plans to build the new housing estate were not implemented, and the parish currently
has 1700 inhabitants. The church is far too large for this number of parishioners
and therefore difficult to maintain. It was built over a period of 13 years and to this
day some rooms are still not finished. The conceptual design projected building on
a circular plan with a diameter of 40 m, in the technical design the diameter was
reduced to 36 m. The designed sacristy behind the presbytery zone and the choir loft,
which was supposed to be above it, were not implemented due to financial difficulties.
A further example of a difficult localization is the site of St. Stanislaus Kostka
Roman Catholic Church. The church was built on a small plot of land on
Dabkowskiego Street in a densely built-up area of the city. One of the walls of
the church adjoins a block of flats and the front elevation is situated directly on the
frontage of the street. The church building, therefore, does not have parking facilities and, also, there is no possibility for a procession to walk around it. The idea
of building a church on such a small plot of land resulted from a growing need to
provide the inhabitants of the centre of Czestochowa, where there was a scarcity of
undeveloped plots, with a parish. Despite the lack of space next to the church, the
area was endowed with some small architectural elements: a cross and a statue of a
saint. Additionally, there are two blue spruces planted on either side of the entrance
and a lawn with shrubs along the wall, and next to the presbytery there is another
silver spruce. Owing to this the whole building seems to be surrounded with greenery
and differs from the neighbourhood.
The above objects are examples of how religious architecture was treated in
communist times. Many churches, not only in Czestochowa, but all over Poland
received plots in unfavorable locations or with an unfavorable configuration and
size. This defined the years 1945–1989.
It was not until 1989 that churches were built in all districts where there were
no parishes. At present, due to the desire for churches to be close to where their
congregations live, very large churches have been allocated to new smaller parishes.
The churches built since then are much smaller and easier to maintain. Very large
churches, often with an area of over 1000 m
2 , are today definitely too large for the
reduced number of faithful. Some churches were built too close to existing ones. An
example eing the church of St. Kazimierz the Prince, which was built on the same
street as the church of St. Adalbert Bishop and the Martyr, which is a very large