St Norbert and Former Premonstratensian Convent's Church

This church was built in 1636-1643 thanks to the efforts of the Prioress of the Premonstratensian nuns in Zwierzyniec, Dorota Kątska, who was famous for her boundless energy. Situated in Zwierzyniec, today a district of Kraków but then considered quite a distance from the city, the church and monastery turned out to be helpless during the siege laid by Archduke Maximilian Habsburg: they were nearly completely burned out and destroyed. For that reason, the Prioress decided to establish a convent within the city walls, so that the nuns could find shelter there in case of further wars or other turmoil. Therefore she purchased a few ruined houses. Her decision was not implemented without problems, as the burghers did not want to allow another convent to be constructed. It was only through the helpful intercession of Bishop Piotr Gembicki that they succeeded.

The Premonstratensian nuns remained here until 1803 when the Austrian authorities closed the convent in ul. Wiślna down. Some of its premises were taken over at the time by the Jagiellonian University, and the church came under the jurisdiction of the Uniate parish. Unfortunately, it fell victim to the Great Fire of Kraków in 1850, for which reason its current furnishing dates back to the 19th century. Attention is turned to the cross vaulting supported on girths and the iconostasis with paintings based on drawings by Jan Matejko.

In 1949, the church was taken over by Missionaries of La Salette, who since 1998 have used it jointly with the Uniates. A major change in the architecture of the church was the addition of a second storey, which occurred in 1965-1968. At that time the entrance into the church was moved to ul. Wiślna.

The buildings of the convent that were taken over by the Jagiellonian University still carry the marks of baroque grandeur. Situated on the ground floor is the former refectory decorated with the coat-of-arms of the entrepreneurial Prioress Kątska. The building used to be called the Collegium Chemicum, as it lent its premises to the Faculty of Chemistry, and is now known as Kolegium Olszewskiego. Karol Olszewski, together with Zygmunt Wróblewski, were the first people to liquefy air (1883). Olszewski was for a long time the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, and the most extraordinary and inquisitive researcher. As a scientist, he even studied his own death throes, keeping notes in real-time. They break in mid-word, ending in a sudden line running down the page: a proof of their being written right until the moment of the scientist’s death.