EN
The beginnings of the Powsin parish date back to the end of the fourteenth century. This was also the period of the original church. The letter was a wooden edifice to which a brick presbytery was/added with time. There are no dates which would make it possible to attempt a reconstruction of the history of the church prior to the eighteenth century. In the years 1726-1728 Elżbieta Sieniawska founded a brick church whose design was probably made by Jozef Fontana ( ca. 1670-1740). Sieniawska's foundation was an example of provincial Baroque characterised by mediocre artistic merits. The illusion of opulence was created by a much pilastered facade which concealed a considerably narrower two- span corps. The proportions of the nave, more Gothic than Baroque, did not quite harmonize with the front elevation. True disharmony was introduced by the low solid of the overly elongated galilee which upset the spatial composition of the whole. Possibly, this was a remnant of the old presbytery, which, in accordance with the medieval canon, closed the wooden nave from the east. The church survived unaltered until the of the nineteenth century, and was subjected to several renovations which did not undermine its spatial structure. The first attempt at a radical reconstruction was undertaken in 1887, upon the basis of a plan made by Stanisław Adamczewski (1830-1916). Once the construction work was initiated, tne original designer was replaced by Jozef Huss (18461904). In contrast to Adamczewski, whose plans are an example of a model-like expansion of a sacral building, Huss's design was distinctly unsuccessful. True, he resolved his task in accordance with the general plan of his rival, but he resigned from those components which were decisive for the aesthetic values of the earlier project. The delicate contrast between the facade and the Classicistic decoration of the side naves was supplanted by the impact of the Baroque, the letter begin the outcome of an „archeologically” comprehended doctrine about the unity of style. Creative ambitions were overcome by a tendency to leave one's own mark, that falsified the true age of the object. This inclination was particularly visible on the front wall of the vestibule with an added imitation of a portal, aggresively displayed against the background of the tower elevations, embellished with niches containing statues of the saints. In addition, the squat towers, placed next to the galilee, completely deformed the building. It is easier to notice the mystification in a side view of the church, which makes it obvious that we are dealing with an alien addition to a church which, albeit not overly magnificent, possessed a certain unassuming and individualised charm. The glaring mistakes were put right by Joxef Dziekoński who was entrusted with a successive reconstruction, performed in the years 1921 -1924. This renowned architect and specialist dealing with church architecture, endowed the parish church in Powsin with a truly original appearance. The merits of local tradition, discernible up to this very day, effectively compensate double as regards the method or nature of introduced changes. Their range allowed the structure of the church to regain, some two hundred years after Sieniawska's foundation, features enabling to regard it as a complete product of architectonic art. Once again, in establishing criteria of appraisal, one should refer more to the domain of emotions than to pass objective judgements concerning historicism, whose aesthetics became outdated before the decision about the expansion was even made.