St. Mary's Church in Katowice ( pl, Kościół Mariacki w Katowicach) is one of the oldest

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

es in Katowice, Poland, dating back to 19th century. This

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church is located in the Śródmieście district.The architectural design was entrusted to Alexis Langer, a renowned architect from Breslau (Wrocław). Although the original plans envisioned a much grander scale, the final neo-Gothic building spans 43 meters in length and 31 meters in width. Its most distinctive feature is the 71-meter octagonal tower, a signature trademark of Langer's craftsmanship.

History

The plans for establishing the Katowice parish date back to the mid-19th century, during the industrialization of Upper Silesia, leading to rapid population growth in the region. In 1858, the Catholics of Katowice began discussions about relocating a wooden church from Biskupice to Katowice (which was then a village). Meanwhile, a

timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

church was erected, later dismantled. The decision to build a larger church was made by the then-Bishop of Wrocław, Heinrich Förster, who, during a visit to the canon in

Racibórz Racibórz (german: Ratibor, cz, Ratiboř, szl, Racibōrz) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Racibórz County. With Opole, Racibórz is one of the historic capitals of Upper Silesia, being ...

in the spring of 1861, appointed Alexis Langer as the architect. The

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

for the construction of the church was consecrated in 1862. Initially, the concept of the church was quite monumental. Bishop Förster, recognizing the rapid population growth driven by the development of Silesian mining, instructed the architect to design a massive, three-aisled

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

and provided significant financial support for the project. However, the grandiose plan proved too costly for the still relatively small parish, prompting changes to the architectural design. The main alteration was the reduction of the side aisles to a series of chapels placed between buttresses. Ultimately, a four-bay, single-aisled church with a row of side chapels and passages pierced between the buttresses was constructed, giving the impression of aisles. In the 1970s, the church lost some of its original furnishings, including the main

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

and altar rail. In 2001, the stained glass windows underwent thorough conservation.

Gallery

File:Katowice St Mary church at night N 2021.jpg, Northern facade (2021) File:Katowice St Mary church apse at night NE 2021.jpg, Apsis (2021) File:Katowice Mary church south.jpg, View from the south (2019) File:Katowice - Kościół NMP - Gargulec 01.jpg, Gargoyle on the tower (2008) File:Katowice - Kościół NMP 2.JPG, Mosaic above the main entrance (2006) File:Katowice St Mary church interior 2021.jpg, Interior (2021) File:Katowice St Mary church matroneum 2 2021.jpg, Organ gallery (2021) File:Katowice Immaculate Conception church triptych.jpg, Gothic triptych File:Józef Unierzyski Descent from the Cross.jpg, Painting with a motif of the Crucifixion by J. Unierzyski File:Kaplica Golgota Ojczyzny.jpg, Chapel near the church (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Katowice

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Gothic Revival church buildings in Poland 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland