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St. Mary's Basilica (Bazylika Mariacka)

Highlight • Religious Site

St. Mary's Basilica (Bazylika Mariacka)

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Please check local regulations for: Historyczne centrum Krakowa

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    November 9, 2021

    According to Jan Długosz, the first brick church in the Romanesque style was founded by the Bishop of Krakow, Iwo Odrowąż, in the years 1221–1222 on the site of the original wooden temple. However, the building was soon destroyed during the Tatar invasions.
    In the years 1290–1300, an early Gothic hall church was built, partly on previous foundations, and consecrated around 1320–1321. However, the work continued in the third decade of the fourteenth century.
    In the years 1355–1365, thanks to the foundation of Mikołaj Wierzynek (a burgher of Krakow and a cabinetmaker from Sandomierz), the current presbytery was built.
    In turn, in the years 1392–1397, Master Nicholas Werner was instructed to better illuminate the church. The builder lowered the walls of the side aisles and introduced large window openings in the main walls. In this way, the hall layout of the temple changed to a basilica style.
    In 1443 (or 1442) there was a strong earthquake, which caused the temple's vault to collapse.
    In the first half of the 15th century, side chapels were added. Most of them were the work of master Franciszek Wiechoń from Kleparz. At that time, the northern tower was raised and adapted to serve as a city watchtower. In 1478, the carpenter Matias Heringkan covered the tower with a cupola. A gilded crown was placed on it in 1666.
    At the end of the 15th century, St. Mary's Church was enriched with a late Gothic sculpture masterpiece - the Great Altar - the work of Veit Stoss.
    pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko%C5%9Bci%C3%B3%C5%82_archiprezbiterialny_Wniebowzi%C4%99cia_Naj%C5%9Bwi%C4%99tszej_Marii_Panny_w_Krakowie

    Translated by Google •

      August 14, 2023

      In place of a Romanesque church building from 1221–1222, the Church of St. Mary the Maid was built at the northeast corner of the market square at the end of the 13th to the beginning of the 15th century, as a classic example of Gothic architecture in Poland. It bears the patronage Wniebowzięcia NMP (Mariacka) “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary”.[1]

      Due to the growing German community in the Middle Ages, over time sermons in Polish were pushed out of St. Mary's Church and into the neighboring St. Barbara's Church. At the winter session of 1536/37 of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) in Krakow, King Sigismund I ordered the sermons in Polish to be moved to St. Mary's Church again. The German sermons, on the other hand, were to be held in the Barbarakirche. On the one hand, this was evidence of the awakening of national self-confidence and the development of national pride, but on the other hand it was also the result of the Polonization of the German bourgeoisie.

      In 1970 the church was opened by Pope Paul VI. elevated to the rank of a minor basilica (Wikipedia).

      Translated by Google •

        November 9, 2021

        The Veit Stoss Altar in Krakow - the altar of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Blessed Virgin Mary), actually the retable of the main altar of St. Mary's Church in Krakow, also colloquially called the "St. Mary's altar in Krakow", "the Krakow altar of Veit Stoss", etc., is an altarpiece made in 1477 –1489 by the sculptor Veit Stoss who came from Nuremberg.
        The retable has dimensions of 11 × 13 m. The height of the largest figures is approximately 2.8 m. It is the largest Gothic altarpiece in Europe.
        The figures, of which there are over 200 in the altar, are carved from solid linden blocks. The entire structure is made of oak wood, while the background is made of larch.
        The predella shows the tree of Jesse - the genealogical tree of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The setting cabinet is decorated with four leaves, two movable and two stationary. The shape of the pentaptych is complemented by a finial.
        The Veit Stoss Altar - a work of the late Middle Ages - combines sacred and profane elements. Mysticism is mixed with naturalistic realism. The golden robes of the apostles appear next to everyday clothes worn in medieval Krakow.
        pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%C5%82tarz_Wita_Stwosza_w_Krakowie

        Translated by Google •

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          Location: Kraków, Kraków, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland

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