
Normal
0
21
Woźniki is a village situated ca. 7 km north-east of Grodzisk-Wielkopolski, by the Kotowo–Dakowy-Mokre road. A local convent is located within a forest, north of the village, on a hillock called Wyrwał.
The afforested convent hill is situated 1 km north-west of the village, in an uninhabited vicinage surrounded by swamps stretching across the Mogilnica valley. A chapel stood there in as early as 1473; then, in 1660, Maciej-Kazimierz Raczyński erected a wooden convent beside it and had Reformed Franciscans settled there.
The today’s brick temple was funded by the Mielżyński family and built in 1723, after a design by Jan (Giovanni) Catenazzi. A single-nave, richly furnished, church was thus constructed whose front was designed after the rear façade of the Poznań parish church. A quadrilateral convent designed for use of twenty friars was erected beside it.
When the Partition was superimposed on Poland, the Prussian authorities initially banned acceptance of any new friars at the convent and eventually dissolved the convent in 1836. A pensioners’ institution functioned there for several years thereafter, then, a school, and subsequently, the former convent buildings were sold. They were mostly demolished afterwards and by 1926, the church had been deemed a ruin and profession of any cult in it was accordingly banned.
The Franciscans returned to Woźniki in 1978 and owing to their endeavours, the convent was rebuilt and the church reinstated to its former splendour. A total of seven altars attract the visitor’s attention whilst inside, along with the stalls, the balustrade, benches, and three confessionals made of timber by Tomasz Mielnarski, the order-member artisan, who was assisted to this end by Friar Adam Sikorski. The sculptures are believed to have been made by Antoni Schultz of Rawicz, a known artist from 18th century. A painting of “Portiuncula Indulgence” is encased in the main altar, now replacing a lost original picture. Copies of the convent founders’ portraits and benefactors are hung on the walls.
Today, remaining of the convent adjacent to the church is but the standalone section of its eastern wing. In 1984-1988, the Franciscan Friars partly reconstructed the building, connecting the surviving fragment with the church. At present, the convent houses a retreat house.