| Church of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul Kościół Świętych Apostołów Piotra i Pawła | |
|---|---|
 View of church from the St. Maria Magdalena Square | |
 Church of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul Kościół Świętych Apostołów Piotra i Pawła | |
| Location | Kraków 52a Grodzka Street |
| Country | Poland |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | All Saints Parish |
| History | |
| Founder | Sigismund III Vasa |
| Consecrated | 8 July 1635 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Giovanni Maria Bernardoni, Giovanni de Rossis, Józef Britius,Giovanni Trevano |
| Style | Baroque |
| Groundbreaking | 1597 |
| Completed | 1619 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Brick andstone |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Kraków |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iv |
| Designated | 1978 |
| Part of | Historic Centre of Kraków |
| Reference no. | 29bis |
| Designated | 1994-09-08 |
| Part of | Kraków – historic city center |
| Reference no. | M.P. 1994 nr 50 poz. 418[1] |
TheChurch of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul (Polish:Kościół Świętych Apostołów Piotra i Pawła) is a historicRoman CatholicPolish Baroque church located at 52aGrodzka Street in theOld Town ofKraków,Poland.
It was built between1597–1619 byGiovanni Maria Bernardoni who perfected the original design of Józef Britius. It is the biggest of the historicChurches of Kraków in terms ofseating capacity. Since 1842 it has served the Catholic All Saintsparish.[2]
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is the first structure in Kraków designed entirely in theBaroque style, and perhaps thefirst Baroque building in present-day Poland. It was funded by the KingSigismund III Vasa (Zygmunt III) for theJesuit order. The plan of the church as acruciformbasilica was drafted by an Italian architect Giovanni de Rossi. His design was carried out by Józef Britius at first (from 1597), and then modified byGiovanni Maria Bernardoni. The final shape of the present-dayfaçade, thedome and its Baroque interior is the work ofGiovanni Battista Trevano, who completed them in the years1605–1619. The Church was ceremonially consecrated on 8 July 1635.[3]
Since 1842, it has belonged to the Roman Catholic All Saints parish. In 1960 the church was raised to the rank of the SmallerBasilica.[2]
Thefacade of Saints Peter and Paul Basilica was constructed withdolomite. It resembles that of theChurch of Santa Susanna inRome byCarlo Maderno, but also, it contains similarities with the facade of the main Jesuit church ofIl Gesù. In itsniches are statues of Jesuit saints:Ignatius of Loyola,Francis Xavier,Aloysius Gonzaga, andStanisław Kostka made by Dawid Heel. Above the main portal lies the emblem of the order of Jesuits with SaintsSigismund of Burgundy andLadislaus I of Hungary. 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.[4] The church interior has a broad, single-nave with two aisles consisting of chapels, as well as thetransept with adome at the intersection, and a short rectangularchancel around thealtar, with a semicircularapse covered with a hemispherical vault.[5]
In front of the church grounds there are severalplinths with raised sculptures of apostles designed by Kacper Bażanka. They were made withPińczówlimestone, and completed in 1722 by Dawid Heel. Today, in place of the original 18th century statues, which were very much damaged byacid rain, there are contemporary copies made of the same material by Kazimierz Jęczmyk.[2][5]
Stucco decorations of the interior, mainly on overhead vaults, belong toGiovanni Battista Falconi ofMilan who spent most of his adult life working in Poland. In the apse of thepresbytery, there are also his scenes from the life and death ofSaints Peter and Paul, 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 angelicputti woven into ornamental compositions andplafonds.
The late Baroquehigh altar from 1735 with the image of Józef Brodowski "giving keys to St. Peter" was designed by Kacper Bażanka. Among the accessories in the interior, asarcophagus of the Bishop Andrzej Trzebicki from late 17th century stands out prominently, as well as the receptacles ofBranicki family (from 1720–1725) and Brzechffs, from 1716 by Bażanka. The interior lighting is subordinate to the Baroque dramatization ofliturgy and focussed on the priest celebratingHoly Mass. The side pillars supporting the dome were supposed to create the impression of a theatre stage inside. In 1638 the Jesuits formed amusical ensemble 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 is buried. Most recently, beginning January 2010, works proceeded on creating the NationalPantheon in the Church's vaults.[6][7]
Every Thursday inside the Church, demonstrations are held of the longestFoucault pendulum in Poland (46,5 m), suspended for the popular display of theEarth's rotation. Named after the French physicistLéon Foucault, the experimental apparatus consists of a tallpendulum 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.[8][9][10] 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.[11]
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 professorsKazimierz Kordylewski and Władysław Horbacki. It was put on display again in 1991 on the anniversary of the arrival ofNicolaus Copernicus in the city. However, the renovations two years later required that the pendulum be taken down. In 2000, said Dr Henryk Brancewicz, astronomer at theJagiellonian University, a local daredevil clambered from the outside and again hung the string in the telescope of the dome.[12][13][14][15]
The Church of Saint Peter and Paul hosts one of Poland's National Pantheons (Panteon Narodowy) alongside theWawel Cathedral,St. John's Archcathedral and theChurch 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 ofPiotr Skarga's death whose remains were kept in one of the church's crypts.[16]
People interred at the pantheon include:
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