St Rosalia Chapel in Sławno

Why visit?

A small wooden chapel stands on a cemetery hill on the edge of Sławno. According to local tradition, the site was chosen after **St Rosalia appeared to a local shepherd**. The modest exterior hides a surprisingly interesting interior: eighteenth-century furnishings, painted decoration, skulls and hourglasses, as well as burial crypts beneath the building. Together with the surrounding historic cemetery, the chapel is one of the most interesting small heritage sites in the area around Lake Lednica. ## History St Rosalia Chapel was founded in the late eighteenth century by the local parish priest, Father Józef Ignacy Stolzman. The chapel was completed in **1785**, and its founder was later buried in a crypt beneath the chancel. According to local legend, St Rosalia appeared to a shepherd near the hill. The apparition is said to have inspired the priest to build the chapel here. The story is part of local tradition rather than a confirmed historical event. ## Architecture The chapel is a traditional timber building constructed using the log technique and clad in vertical wooden boards. It consists of a single nave, a narrower three-sided chancel and a western tower. The tower is topped by a distinctive **onion-shaped dome with a lantern**, while the roofs are covered with wooden shingles. ## Inside the chapel The ceiling and upper parts of the walls are decorated with painted garlands, rosettes and geometric and floral motifs. The main wooden altar contains an image of St Rosalia. Figures of the Virgin Mary and St Teresa stand at the side altars. One detail is particularly easy to miss. On the rood beam stands a sculpture of **St Barbara**, accompanied by putti resting on **skulls and holding hourglasses** — powerful symbols of death and the passing of time. ## Crypts beneath the building The founder of the chapel is buried beneath the chancel. A second burial crypt beneath the nave is associated with the **Chełmicki family, the last owners of Sławno**. The crypts are not normally part of a casual visit, but knowing that they are there adds another layer to the story of the small cemetery chapel. ## Historic cemetery Do not visit only for the chapel. The surrounding cemetery contains historic graves and monuments connected with generations of local residents. According to Poland's National Institute of Cultural Heritage, the **oldest surviving gravestone dates from 1857**. Other notable features include the Walter family tomb from 1885 and older graves connected with the history of the village. Look for the stone column beside the chancel. It is the grave monument of Major Damazy Dobrogojski, a participant in the November Uprising who died in 1857. The distinctive monument stands to the right of the chancel. A memorial near the cemetery commemorates local people killed, executed or murdered in prisons and concentration camps during the Second World War. ## What to look for - the onion-shaped tower dome, - the wooden shingle roof, - painted ceiling decoration, - the main altar with St Rosalia, - the sculpture of St Barbara, - skull and hourglass motifs, - historic graves surrounding the chapel. ## Interesting facts - The present chapel was completed in **1785**. - Its founder is buried beneath the chancel. - Local legend connects the chapel with an apparition of St Rosalia to a shepherd. - A second crypt beneath the nave belongs to the Chełmicki family. - Skulls and hourglasses appear in the chapel's historic decoration. - The oldest surviving gravestone in the cemetery dates from **1857**. - The chapel is part of the Wooden Churches Trail around the Zielonka Forest. - The local feast of St Rosalia is celebrated on 4 September. ## Practical information **GPS:** 52.5798441, 17.3635113 **Location:** the chapel stands inside the parish cemetery in the eastern part of Sławno. **Getting there:** the cemetery is easily accessible by car. **Parking:** you can leave your car **in front of the cemetery** and walk the short remaining distance to the chapel. **Interior access:** limited. The chapel is not normally open for unrestricted sightseeing. **Admission:** there is no regular ticketing system. **Suggested visit time:** approximately **20–30 minutes**, or around 45 minutes if you want to explore the historic cemetery in more detail. ## Tripto tip **Do not photograph the chapel only from close up.** Step a little lower among the graves — from there you can best see how the chapel rises above the terraced cemetery. Walk around the building and look for the stone column of Major Damazy Dobrogojski beside the chancel. If the chapel is open, look up at the painted ceiling and the rood beam with skulls and hourglasses. ## Combine your visit with: - **The Innkeeper of Waliszewo** → chapel → **Ostrów Lednicki** — combine the Red Tavern legend, wooden architecture and the origins of the Piast state. - **St. Catherine's Church in Waliszewo** → chapel — two wooden heritage sites in one quiet route around Lake Lednica. - **Greater Poland Ethnographic Park in Dziekanowice** → chapel — pair the open-air museum with a short walk across the cemetery hill.

What you’ll see

• kaplica z 1785 roku
• cebulasty hełm z latarnią
• malowany strop i ornamenty
• krypty pod kaplicą
• czaszki i klepsydry na belce tęczowej
• historyczny cmentarz

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