The Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Dukla

Church of st. Mary Magdalene in Dukla is one of the most valuable Polish rococo churches.

It was built as a gothic one, around 1461, with a brick chancel and a wooden nave. When in 1738 there was a fire in the city, the nave burned down entirely, and the chancel became the basis for the reconstruction of the temple.

The owner of Dukla and the Grand Marshal of the Crown, Józef Wandalin Mniszech, the same one who donated the land for the Bernardine monastery, undertook it. The temple was given a baroque appearance, but another fire and the death of Józef Vandalin in 1747 interrupted the work. They were continued in 1764 by the son of the marshal, Jerzy August Mniszech, supported by his wife, Maria Amalia. It was then that the church's interior acquired a rococo interior and fittings that have survived to this day.

They are characterized by a unique artistic value, appreciated both by specialists and visitors. The main altar was built in 1772-73 based on a design by Piotr Polejowski, the author of the reconstruction of the Latin cathedral in Lviv.

Its center is the presentation of St. Mary Magdalene, accompanied by sculptures of the four virtues - Faith, Hope, Love, and Penance.

The stylish pulpit with the sculptures of the Fathers of the Church and the side altars also attract attention - in the right one, there is a representation of St. Anthony, in the left, the Vision of St. John of Dukla.

And above all, one of the most outstanding works of Polish Rococo - the tombstone of Maria Amalia  Mniszech, née Brűhl, Jerzy August Wandalin's wife, who died at the age of only 35, made of white and black marble. The sculpture shows a life-size deceased in elegant clothes, lying on a sarcophagus, and there has been a dispute over its author for years - between the supporters of Jan Obrocki and Franciszek Olędzki, outstanding artists from Lviv.