A gem of sacred architecture, the Romanesque church in Imielno, was erected by the Cistercians. First owners of Imielno came from the Poraj family. They were probably the descendants of Poraj – a Czech knight and St. Adalbert’s brother. The temple existed as early as in the thirteenth century. One should emphasize that from the very beginning the church was lucky to have great constructors and founders, as evidenced by its architecture, interior and the accumulation of distinguished surnames on numerous epitaphs (a rare occurrence in village churches).
The church in Imielno was a three-nave temple with a plainly closed, substantial chancel covered with two rib vault bays. It underwent heavy reconstruction in the fifteenth and seventeenth century. The enclosing walls come from the original period. The Romanesque origins of the church are best reflected in the chancel. In its northern wall, original semicircular closed windows have been preserved; there are also the so-called “responds” – little columns supporting the Romanesque vault. On the left side of the altar there is a visible bricked up late-Gothic portal, whereas nowadays an impressive Baroque marble portal and a seventeenth-century door decorated with metal fittings lead to the sacristy. Interesting stained-glass windows depicting St. Julia and emperor Constantine were brought from Paris in 1880 by the Pusłowski family. In the main altar, there is a Baroque painting of Our Lady of the Scapular, and on its sliding panel there is St. Nicholas, the patron of the church. In the side chapels, there is an altar with the figure of Christ Crucified (nineteenth century) and a painting of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (1764).
There are also precious polychromies by Tadeusz Brzozowski and his wife Barbara Gawdzik-Brzozowska, inspired by surrealism and the artistic work of Tadeusz Kantor. Brzozowski was Kantor’s associate. The vault of the church depicts, among others, the Last Supper, the adoration of the Cross by angels, the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi and the Coronation of the Mother of God.