Chapel of St Francis Xavier in Bystrzyca Kłodzka

The chapel stands beside national road 33 leading from Bystrzyca Kłodzka towards Kłodzko, right by the bridge at the entrance to the town. It was built in 1681 as a votive offering of thanks for the town's survival of a plague.

A votive offering for a saved town

The chapel was founded after an epidemic that threatened Bystrzyca Kłodzka. It was meant as thanks to St Francis Xavier for the town surviving the plague. It has stood on the same spot since 1681, beside the road to Kłodzko, so travellers entering the town from this direction have passed it for centuries.

A baroque structure by the bridge

The building has a square plan and a baroque form. It is covered by a dome topped with a bell-shaped cupola, crowned with two finials and a sheet-metal silhouette of St Francis Xavier. The corners are accented by pilaster strips, above which runs a crowning cornice. Inside is a small altar, flanked on both sides by shell-shaped niches and small semicircular windows.

In the centre of the old town

A few hundred metres away, within the market square and old town, you can see the Holy Trinity Column in Bystrzyca Kłodzka and the Match Museum in Bystrzyca Kłodzka, so a walk from the bridge by the chapel towards the centre is worth combining with a visit to both these places.

Practical information

• Location: Bystrzyca Kłodzka, on national road 33 towards Kłodzko, by the bridge at the entrance to the town from this direction.
• Getting there: on foot or by car from the centre of Bystrzyca Kłodzka; the chapel stands directly by the road.
• What to expect: a small roadside chapel seen from the outside; the sources do not give service times or rules for entering the interior, so it is worth checking accessibility on site.