Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God's Church

Monks from the Order of the Holy Trinity, popularly called Trinitarians, dealt with ransoming Christian prisoners from pagan slavery. Even though the Order was established in France as early as in 1198, that is during the Crusades, in the following centuries its operation proved to be as precious as it was necessary. In particular, during the 17th century there were countless raids and invasions of Turks and Tatars, and the number of those taken captive was counted in tens of thousands. At the time, the King of Poland John III Sobieski, having heard about the good deeds of the Order, decided to bring them to Poland.

Initially, Trinitarians settled in Lemberg, from where they reached Kraków in 1688. Finally in 1741 the long-collected funds allowed them to begin the erection of their monastery which continued for over a decade. The complex had been completed by 1758, and was consecrated by the Suffragan Bishop of Kraków Franciszek Potkański. The façade of the church, by Francesco Placidi, a Roman architect who settled in Kraków, is a proof of the highest mastery. As it was designed to be seen “at an angle” – from the perspective of not-too-wide a street, it is designed in a winged form with plenty of concave and convex elements, and with the lavish decorations between nervous, curving lines providing the architectural divisions. It is one of the most intriguing cases of late-baroque architecture in this part of Europe.

Equally unique is the painted decoration inside by Józef Piltz from Moravia. On the ceiling over the nave, St John of Matha, the founder of the Order of the Holy Trinity, buys slaves out of Turkish captivity. The mural presented with false perspective is a perfect example of illusionist painting from the time of the baroque, and one of the special features of Kraków.

Unfortunately, the Order did not enjoy their own church long. Together with changes in the balance of political power in Europe, their mission slowly reached its end. After the liquidation of the Order, the church and its monastery were taken over by the Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God (1812). For a few decades, the hospital they ran operated in the building of the 18th-century monastery. It was only in 1897-1906 that new premises were built for the hospital – deeper in ul. Trynitarska – to the design of the famous architect Teodor Talowski. For many years, it seemed that the memory of the Trinitarian Order would survive only in the name of the street, and yet the Trinitarians returned to Kraków in 2000, and today they run a centre for drug addicts in ul. Łanowa.