The Church of Saints Peter and Paul ( pl, Kościół ŚŚ Piotra i Pawła) 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 ...

Polish Baroque The Polish Baroque lasted from the early 17th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance sty ...

church located at 54 Grodzka Street in the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

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

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 was built between by

Giovanni Maria Bernardoni Giovanni Maria Bernardoni (1541–1605) was a Jesuit and an Italian architect who was the first to design the Baroque style in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Michael J. Mikoś, ''Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature: An Anthol ...

who perfected the original design of Józef Britius. It is the biggest of the historic

Churches of Kraków The metropolitan city of Kraków, former capital of Poland, is known as the city of churches. The abundance of landmark, historic Roman Catholic churches along with the plenitude of monasteries and convents earned the city a countrywide reputatio ...

in terms of

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

. Since 1842 it serves the Catholic All Saints

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

History

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is the first structure in Kraków designed entirely in the

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires includin ...

, and perhaps the first Baroque building in present-day Poland. It was funded by the King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

(''Zygmunt III'') for the

Jesuit order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. The plan of the church as a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

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

was drafted by an Italian architect Giovanni de Rossi. His design was carried out by Józef Britius at first (from 1597), and then modified by

. The final shape of the present day

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

, the

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

and its Baroque interior belongs to

Giovanni Battista Trevano Giovanni Battista Trevano (born in Lugano, Switzerland, died 1644 in Krakow, Poland) was an Italian-speaking architect who worked in Poland as royal architect for King Sigismund III Vasa, of the Vasa dynasty, which ruled Poland at the time. ...

, who completed them in the years . The Church was ceremonially consecrated on 8 July 1635. Since 1842 until now, it belongs to the Roman Catholic All Saints parish. In 1960 the church was raised to the rank of the Smaller

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

Architectural form

The facade of Saints Peter and Paul Basilica was constructed with

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

. It resembles that of the Church of Santa Susanna in

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 ...

Carlo Maderno Carlo Maderno (Maderna) (1556 – 30 January 1629) was an Italian architect, born in today's Ticino, who is remembered as one of the fathers of Baroque architecture. His façades of Santa Susanna, St. Peter's Basilica and Sant'Andrea della Vall ...

, but also, it contains similarities with the facade of the main Jesuit church of Il Gesù. In its niches are statues of Jesuit saints:

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian ...

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

Aloysius Gonzaga Aloysius de Gonzaga ( it, Luigi Gonzaga; 9 March 156821 June 1591) was an Italian aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epi ...

, and Stanisław Kostka made by Dawid Heel. Above the main portal, there's the emblem of the order of Jesuits with saints

Sigismund of Burgundy Sigismund ( la, Sigismundus; died 524 AD) was King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death. He was the son of king Gundobad and Caretene. He succeeded his father in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis' ...

and

Ladislaus I of Hungary Ladislaus I ( hu, László, hr, Ladislav, sk, Ladislav, pl, Władysław; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and ...

. The very top of the facade is adorned with the coat of arms of the Vasa dynasty since king Sigismund III Vasa was the founder of the church. The church interior has a broad, single-nave with two aisles consisting of chapels, as well as the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

with a

at the intersection, and a short rectangular

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

around the

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 pagan ...

, with semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

covered with a hemispherical vault. In front of the Church-grounds there are several

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

s with raised sculptures of apostles designed by Kacper Bażanka. They were made with

Pińczów Pińczów is a town in southern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about 40 km south of Kielce. It is the capital of Pińczów County. Population is 12,304 (2005). Pińczów belongs to the historic Polish province of Lesser Poland, a ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

, and completed in 1722 by Dawid Heel. Today, in place of the original 18th century statues, which were very much damaged by

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but ac ...

, there are contemporary copies made of the same material by Kazimierz Jęczmyk.

Interior design

Stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

decorations of the interior, mainly on overhead vaults, belong to Giovanni Battista Falconi of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

who spent most of his adult life working in Poland. In the apse of the presbytery, there are also his scenes from the life and death of

Saints Peter and Paul Peter and Paul may refer to: * Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle considered together ** Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June in the Catholic liturgical calendar ** St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (disambiguation) * ''Peter and Paul'' (film), 19 ...

, and the statues of patrons of Poland – Saint Wojciech and Saint Stanisław. In the aisles, his artwork becomes much more joyous and include figures of angelic

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University o ...

woven into ornamental compositions and

plafond A plafond (French for "ceiling"), in a broad sense, is a (flat, vaulted or dome) ceiling. A plafond can be a product of monumental painting or sculpture. Picturesque plafonds can be painted directly on plaster (as a fresco, oil, glutinous, sy ...

s. Late Baroque

high 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 pagan ...

from 1735 with the image of Józef Brodowski "giving keys to St. Peter" was designed by Kacper Bażanka. Among the accessories in the interior, a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...

of the Bishop Andrzej Trzebicki from late 17th century stands out prominently, as well as the receptacles of Branicki family (from 1720–1725) and Brzechffs, from 1716 by Bażanka. The interior lighting is subordinate to the Baroque dramatization of

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

and focussed on the priest celebrating

Holy Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Chri ...

. The side pillars supporting the dome were supposed to create the impression of the theatre stage inside. In 1638 the Jesuits formed a

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists ...

there, the biggest in contemporary Poland. It featured around 80 to 100 singers. In the basement beneath the floor of the church Rev.

Piotr Skarga Piotr Skarga (less often Piotr Powęski; 2 February 1536 – 27 September 1612) was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-Reformation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to his oratoric ...

is buried. Most recently, beginning January 2010, works proceeded on creating the National

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

in the Church's vaults. File:Kościół ŚŚ Piotra i Pawła w Krakowie Ołtarz Główny.jpg, Main altar File:2007KrakówPiotrPaweł.jpg, The statues of Saints File:Kościół ŚŚ Piotra i Pawła w Krakowie Wnętrze.jpg, The nave File:Poland Krakow Ss. Peter and Paul church.jpg, The winter-time facade File:Kościół Świętych Apostołów Piotra i Pawła w Krakowie P9223732c.jpg, The organs

Foucault pendulum

Every Thursday inside the Church, demonstrations are held of the longest

Foucault pendulum The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. A long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circular ...

in Poland (46,5 m), suspended for the popular display of the

Earth's rotation Earth's rotation or Earth's spin is the rotation of planet Earth around its own axis, as well as changes in the orientation of the rotation axis in space. Earth rotates eastward, in prograde motion. As viewed from the northern polar star Po ...

. Named after the French physicist

Léon Foucault Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (, ; ; 18 September 1819 – 11 February 1868) was a French physicist best known for his demonstration of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of Earth's rotation. He also made an early measurement ...

, the experimental apparatus consists of a tall

pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward th ...

free to swing in any vertical plane. The actual path of the swing appears to rotate; while in fact the plane is fixed in space, but the Earth rotates under the pendulum once a sidereal day. It is a simple and easy-to-see proof of the Earth's movement. Foucault’s Pendulum at ITOTD.com
November 8, 2004.
Lexpress.fr The pendulum weights 25 kg and is fitted with the red laser marking a clock face at the floor. It takes about an hour to notice a significant difference in its path, and the explanation is provided in Polish. The history of the pendulum at the Church is several decades long. For the first time, it was hung in 1949 on the initiative of professors Kordylewski and Horbacki. It was put on display again in 1991 on the anniversary of the arrival of

Mikołaj Kopernik Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulat ...

in the city. However, the renovations two years later required that the pendulum be taken down. In 2000, said Dr Henryk Brancewicz, astronomer at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

, a local daredevil clambered from the outside and again hung the string in the telescope of the dome.

Notable people buried at the Saints Peter and Paul Church

The Church of Saint Peter and Paul hosts one of Poland's National Pantheons (''Panteon Narodowy'') alongside the

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral ( pl, Katedra Wawelska), formally titled the Royal Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus, is a Roman Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it is part of the ...

, St. John's Archcathedral and the Church of St Michael the Archangel and St Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr, a burial place of the most distinguished Poles representing the fields of the arts, culture and science. The work on the construction of the pantheon began in October 2010 and the official opening of the first part of the complex took place in 2012 on the 400th anniversary of

's death whose remains were kept in one of the church's crypts. People interred at the pantheon include: *

, (1536–1612), Jesuit preacher *

Andrzej Trzebicki Andrzej Trzebicki (23 November 1607 – 28 December 1679) was a nobleman and priest in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Deputy Chancellor of the Crown from 1652, bishop of Przemyśl since 1655, bishop of Kraków since 1658. Loyal to king ...

, (1607–1679), nobleman and priest *Witold Szeliga Bieliński, (1818–1833), nobleman *

Sławomir Mrożek Sławomir Mrożek (29 June 1930 – 15 August 2013) was a Polish dramatist, writer and cartoonist. Mrożek joined the Polish United Workers' Party during the reign of Stalinism in the People's Republic of Poland, and made a living as a poli ...

, (1930–2013), dramatist and cartoonist * Karol Olszewski, (1846–1915), chemist *

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

(1933–2020), composer and conductor *

Marian Rejewski Marian Adam Rejewski (; 16 August 1905 – 13 February 1980) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in late 1932 reconstructed the sight-unseen German military Enigma cipher machine, aided by limited documents obtained by French mil ...

, (1905–1980), mathematician and cryptologist *

Jerzy Różycki Jerzy Witold Różycki (; Vilshana, Ukraine, 24 July 1909 – 9 January 1942, Mediterranean Sea, near the Balearic Islands) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma-machine ciphers before and during World ...

, (1909–1942), mathematician and cryptologist *

Zygmunt Wróblewski Zygmunt, Zigmunt, Zigmund and spelling variations thereof are masculine given names and occasionally surnames. People so named include: Given name Medieval period * Sigismund I the Old (1467–1548), Zygmunt I Stary in Polish, King of Poland and Gr ...

, (1845–1888), chemist *

Henryk Zygalski Henryk Zygalski (; 15 July 1908 – 30 August 1978) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma ciphers before and during World War II. Life Zygalski was born on 15 July 1908 in Posen, German Empire (now Pozn ...

, (1908–1978), mathematician and cryptologist

Footnotes

References

Historia z wirtualną panoramą wnętrza

Organy Kościoła Świętych Piotra i Pawła w Krakowie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saints Peter And Paul Church, Krakow Roman Catholic churches completed in 1619 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland Church buildings with domes Peter and Paul 1619 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth