It is commonly known as the rotunda of St. Gotard, although the rotunda is only a part of it. It is, however, the most important and unique part. After all, Romanesque temples built on a circular plan have survived in Poland only a few (Cieszyn, Chelmno, Stronia). All of them are associated with the beginnings of Polish statehood and Christianity in Poland.

The rotunda in Strzelin is the oldest building in the city. It was probably erected in the 1st half of the 12th century.It was a rotunda with a horseshoe-shaped apse on the east, and was built of broken granite, a stone still quarried in Strzelin. It was first mentioned in 1233 and in 1300, and its lower parts and portal have survived to this day from this Romanesque building.

In the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, the apse was demolished, and a north aisle covered with a gabled roof was added to the rotunda, and the rotunda itself was superstruck, turning it into a bell tower. In 1470, a south aisle was built parallel to the north aisle. Around 1800, the rotunda was raised by one octagonal story and covered with a pyramidal cupola. Thus, it is now a two-nave church with a rotunda at the west wall of the north aisle. The naves are two-bay, covered with cross-ribbed vaults, and the windows in the aisles are pointed arches with masons. There are Renaissance and Baroque tombstones and epitaphs in the wall.

From 1574, this unique church served the Lutherans. It was reclaimed by Catholics in 1698, and belonged to the Augustinian order, but only until 1709, when it became Protestant again. Before World War I, services were held in it in the Polish language. For this reason it was called the “Polish church.” During World War II it was heavily damaged and was out of use for a long time. In 1992 it was restored to worship, received a modern decoration and became a branch church of the Parish of the Elevation of the Holy Cross in Strzelin. On selected days it is open to the public.

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