Babice: All Saints Church and Routes

• The parish of Babice was first mentioned in 1337, and All Saints Church in 1470.
• Bishop Jan Konarski founded a new All Saints Church around 1524; the present masonry building was constructed in 1763 after a fire.
• Between 1891 and 1898, the nave was lengthened and extended with two chapels.
• The Kraków–Moravia–Vienna Greenways route is listed in Babice at route kilometre 14.7 as a blue Greenways cycling route.
• The green Lipowiec Route passes through Babice; along the stated route, Lipowiec Castle and the school at ul. Parkowa are 0.7 km apart.

The early dates refer to different things: the parish of Babice was first mentioned in 1337, and All Saints Church in 1470. Around 1524, Bishop Jan Konarski founded a new church of this name. The date “around 1524” is approximate, not an exact year of construction.

The present masonry church was built in 1763 after a fire. A further structural change followed between 1891 and 1898: the nave was lengthened, two chapels were added, and this created a kind of transept. To understand the timeline, it is helpful to treat the first mentions, the founding of a new church, the present building and the later extension as separate historical milestones.

The interior furnishings of All Saints Church are Baroque and Rococo. The architecture also includes a two-storey Baroque masonry bell tower. The late-19th-century extension gave the nave a different form, with the two chapels: together, they create a kind of transept, meaning an area laid out across the longitudinally oriented main nave.

One side altar contains paintings of the Immaculate Conception and the Guardian Angel by Wojciech Eljasz; the Stations of the Cross are also his work. The furnishings also include a Baroque baptismal font from the second half of the 18th century. Fragments of an early Baroque altarpiece made by Mikołaj Przybysławowicz of Kraków in 1662 are kept in the rectory of All Saints Church. An altarpiece is the decorated structure of an altar; in Babice, fragments of one are preserved in the rectory.

The Kraków–Moravia–Vienna Greenways route is listed in Babice at route kilometre 14.7 as a blue Greenways cycling route. This marks a point on the route. Babice is named as a place the green Lipowiec Route passes through; the stated distance of 0.7 km refers to the section between Lipowiec Castle and the school at ul. Parkowa.

The two descriptions therefore cannot simply be treated as equivalent: the Greenways route is explicitly identified as a cycling route, while the Lipowiec Route is described as a green route and specifies a particular section. If you plan to take the Lipowiec Route, it is advisable to check its current condition before setting out.

For a cultural focus, All Saints Church offers several points of interest: the history of the parish and church building, its later extension, and its furnishings. If you would like to include a cycling route, the Greenways route is explicitly identified as a cycling route. The information about the Lipowiec Route adds a named route and a specific section.

Discover more destinations: Chrzanów, Auschwitz, Alwernia, Młoszowa, Zagórze, Lgota, Żarki, Libiąż.

What do the dates 1337 and 1470 refer to?

The parish of Babice was first mentioned in 1337; the first mention of All Saints Church followed in 1470.

Which works are attributed to Wojciech Eljasz?

He painted the images of the Immaculate Conception and the Guardian Angel on a side altar, as well as the Stations of the Cross.

What does the distance of 0.7 km refer to?

Along the stated route, it indicates the distance between Lipowiec Castle and the school at ul. Parkowa.

For the broader travel overview: Chrzanów.