Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul
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The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral interior The Cathedral chapels The Cathedral as the royal necropolis, the Golden Chapel Tombstones of bishops and the nobilityVisible from a distance, the Cathedral basilica is a special place. The necropolis of the first Piasts has become a monument to the beginnings of the Polish state. As the PRIMA SEDES EPISCOPORUM POLONIAE ( the first seat of the bishops of Poland ), as announced by the inscription above the main entrance, the building witnessed the origins of Christianity in Poland.
Interior. The main entrance is reached from the Cathedral Square, through the modern doors hung in the Gothic portal on which a Gothic rosette can be seen. The Gothic interior is somewhat gloomy, with a stellar vault and angled arches sectioning off the aisles. 12 chapels (mainly Baroque in style) ring the aisles, two sacristies and a vestibule. The chancel, with stained-glass windows designed by artists including Wacław Taranczewski, and the ambulatory both have ribbed vaults. The chancel furnishings were brought to the Cathedral after World War II. They include the superb late-Gothic polyptych (completed in 1512) with its two pairs of wings, which came from Góra Śląska parish church and is now the Cathedral's high altar. The Baroque pulpit and font came from the post-evangelical church in Milicz, while the early-15th-century choir stalls came from Zgorzelec.
Bishops' tombstones. In accordance with tradition, Poznan's canons and bishops, mostly drawn from Wielkopolska's nobility and eminent families, were interred in the Cathedral. Their burial places are marked by plaques (initially stone and later bronze), which are set in the floor. The oldest bronze plaque surviving in the Cathedral was made in Flanders for Bishop Andrzej of Bnin. The plaques for Uriel and Łukasz Górka were commissioned from Europe's most famous workshop at the time, Vischer in Nuremberg. The Cathedral's precious plaques were misappropriated by the Germans during World War II, but were later found in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and returned to the Cathedral in 1990.
Among the most valuable tombstones of Poznań's bishops is that of Jan Lubrański, who died in 1520), the founder of the Academy that bore his name. His tombstone is in the Chapel of St. John of Kanty. Donated by his successor, Bishop Piotr Tomicki, it was carved from Hungarian red marble by the sculptor Bartłomiej Berecci, who was also responsible for Sigismund's Chapel in Kraków's Wawel Castle. It is the Cathedral's oldest example of a Renaissance tombstone. The elegant red marble tombstone of Bishop Adam Konarski (Chapel of the Holy Trinity), dating from the time of the Jesuits' settling in Poznań, was carved by Hieronim Canavesi (1576). Of similar artistic magnificence is the Renaissance tombstone of Bishop Benedykt Izdbieński (in the ambulatory), dating from around1560, and the early-Baroque stone of Adam Nowodworski (d. 1634), attributed to Wilhelm Richter, a pupil of the outstanding Gdańsk sculptor and architect Abraham van den Blocke (opposite the Golden Chapel).
The custom of founding chapels to function as sepulchral chapels became widespread in the 15th century. Some developed to become family mausoleums. The grandest is the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament - the chapel of the mighty Górka family.
The Golden Chapel. Dazzlingly lavish and resplendent in Byzantine grandeur, the Golden Chapel - a Royal mausoleum - is the result of a late-19th-century social initiative. During the times of the Partitions of Poland, it was intended to recall the country's glittering past. Behind the initiative to create a mausoleum, a symbolic synopsis of Poland's past, was Count Edward Raczyński. The chapel houses a sarcophagus in which what are thought to be the remains of Mieszko I and Boleslav the Brave were placed. Huge statues of Mieszko I as a priest and Boleslav the Brave as a knight, the work of Christian Daniel Rauch, were to symbolise the nature of authority. Wall paintings emphasise two important moments in the beginnings of the Polish state: the baptism and the Congress of Gniezno. The vault of the copula, dazzling with gold, presents Christ Pantocrator, while the altar features a mosaic of the Mother of God.
The Cathedral as the royal necropolis. Tradition dictated that the remains of Mieszko I and Boleslav the Brave were interred in Poznań Cathedral. Archaeological digs in the 20th century unearthed remnants of two tombs, which were assumed to be those of the first Piasts (on view in the cathedral crypt). Yet opinions are divided as to whether the two monarchs really are at rest in Poznań Cathedral.
The interment of Przemysł II, murdered in 1296, raises no such doubts. In 1995 in the Chapel of St. Stanislav the Bishop and Martyr (sectioned off from the Royal Chapel, which until the 14th century housed the king's tombstone), there is a bronze epitaph to Przemysł II, Mieszko's wife, Rycheza and Przemysł I.
In the centre of the nave there is an inscription reminding us that Poznań is the place where the kings and princes of the Piast dynasty lie in eternal peace.
The history of the Cathedral. The first, pre-Romanesque cathedral was a three-aisled stone edifice (see History of the stronghold). Work began in the mid-10th century on the site of former provisional baptisteries, whose relics are on display in the crypt (entrance from the North Tower). This cathedral was destroyed during the invasion of the Czech prince Bretislav in 1038 and was certainly rebuilt a few years later.
The three-aisled design remained and the western end was added. In the mid-12th century, part of this section was demolished to make way for a modern two-tower façade. All that remains visible of the Romanesque cathedral today are fragments of the walls incorporated into the façade.
In 1243 work commenced on the eastern end, resulting in the erection of a Gothic presbytery. General alterations to the nave began in 1356 in the High Gothic style. The eastern end was restructured following unsuccessful building work at the end of the 14th century, with the result being the ambulatory with its crown of chapels.
Work on restructuring the Gothic cathedral commenced following a fire in 1622. In 1725 a violent storm damaged the tower cupolas and western gable, which were reconstructed in the Baroque style. Restructuring the cathedral took 100 years, during which time the predominantly Gothic interior furnishings were changed. After the fire in 1772 the interior was given a late-Baroque form, which survived until World War II. Reconstruction work was carried out to classicist designs, with new cupolas being added to the towers.
The Cathedral remained almost intact until 1939. It suffered the greatest damage in 1945. Thorough archaeological work was undertaken before general reconstruction commenced in the Gothic style, although the chapels retained their pre-1945, Baroque form. The bulk of the work was completed in 1956.