Płock Cathedral ( pl, Katedra Płocka), or the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Masovia, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

cathedral in the city of

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to th ...

, in central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It is an example of 12th-century

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

and is the oldest and most important historical monument in the city, which contains the tombs of several Polish monarchs. It is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.

History

Exterior of the Płock Cathedral, Poland, April 2019

The bishopric in Płock was founded about 1075. The first definite reference to the cathedral is in 1102, when

Władysław I Herman Władysław I Herman ( 1044 – 4 June 1102) was the duke of Poland from 1079 until his death. Accession Władysław was the second son of the Polish duke Casimir the Restorer and Maria Dobroniega of Kiev. As the second son, Władysław was not ...

was buried there. The present Romanesque cathedral was built after 1129 by prince Bolesław III and Bishop Aleksander of Malonne. This was a rebuilding following a fire and took from 1136 until 1144. It was consecrated in 1144 as the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The original bronze doors of the Romanesque cathedral (now in

Velikiy Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

) have figurative bas-reliefs depicting the verses of the so-called "Roman Confession of Faith", and the figure of Alexander of Malonne, bishop of Płock. The doors were made in the

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

workshop about 1150. In the cathedral there is now a bronze replica of the doors, made in the 1980s. In the Royal Chapel on the north side of the cathedral is a marble sarcophagus forming the tomb of two Polish rulers,

and his son

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...

. Following a major fire in 1530, the building was reconstructed by Bishop Andzej Krzycki as a new Renaissance style church (1531–1535). This was the first large Renaissance style cathedral in Poland, although it reused granite ashlar portions of the Romanesque basilica. The architects were Bernardino de Gianotis from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Giovanni Cini da Siena and Philippo da Fiesole. The layout of the new cathedral was based on the Renaissance basilicas of Rome ( Sant'Agostino,

Santa Maria del Popolo it, Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo , image = 20140803 Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo Rome 0191.jpg , caption = The church from Piazza del Popolo , coordinates = , image_size ...

). However the external architecture remains in the style of North Italian brick churches, more similar to local late Gothic ones in

Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...

, and may be the result of rebuilding work about 1560 by Giovanni Battista of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, who added the spacious choir and two western towers. The building was restored in 1903, when the present front elevation facing west and the towers was re-designed by the architect in charge of the restoration, Stefan Szyller. Between the world wars, the interior was decorated with additional frescoes by Władysław Drapiewski and Czesław Idźkiewicz, local student of

Józef Mehoffer Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time. Life Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce, ...

graduating from the Academy in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. In 2018, due to its ''historical, artistic, scientific, material and landscape values'', the Cathedral along with the entire ''Wzgórze Tumskie'' ("Tumskie Hill") was listed by the President of Poland as a Historic Monument of Poland.

Burials

Polish monarchs

Bolesław IV the Curly Bolesław IV the Curly (; 1122 – 5 January 1173), a member of the Piast dynasty, was Duke of Masovia from 1138 and High Duke of Poland from 1146 until his death. Early life Bolesław was the third son of Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth of Polan ...

Konrad I of Masovia Konrad I of Masovia (ca. 1187/88 – 31 August 1247), from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia and Kuyavia from 1194 until his death as well as High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232 and again from 1241 to 1243. Life Konrad wa ...

* Bolesław II of Masovia

Other

* Tadeusz Paweł Zakrzewski * Henry of Masovia * Michał Nowodworski

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plock Cathedral

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...