Church of the Holy Saviour

According to tradition, this site is associated with a pagan temple from the 10th century. Despite detailed research carried out throughout the last century, the claim has not been fully substantiated. It goes without saying that The Holy Saviour is one of Kraków’s oldest churches, as it was most probably built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries in Romanesque style. It was first mentioned in 1148, and it is known that at that time the first basilica, made of stone blocks with its chancel and niches to the sides, was already standing on the site.

The Church suffered major damage during the siege of Kraków by the pretender to the Polish throne, Maximilian Habsburg, in 1587. It was partially rebuilt with the introduction of some baroque decoration in 1604-1622. The tower and the pulpit (1605) were built at that time, the latter in quite an unusual form, as it is attached to the external wall of the chancel. The place is associated in legend (unfortunately, without any grounds), to the preaching by St Adalbert, who, after all, lived in the 10th century.

Today’s church is baroque in character due to the thorough reconstruction carried out in 1662-1673 after the old church was destroyed by the Swedes. The one-nave interior of the church is covered with cross vaulting. Biforia (arcaded windows), very characteristic features of the Romanesque style, were inserted in the walls of the chancel. The early Renaissance frescoes and late Renaissance pulpits are worthy of attention as well as the painting of the crucified Christ with a busker at his feet on a side altar which is connected to the legend of the miraculous crucifix. The painting, which is the work of a Kraków painter, Kacper Kurcz (1605), most probably replaced a sculpture which according to tradition was presented to Prince Mieszko I in the 10th century.

Next to the church there is the former parish cemetery with its mysterious gravediggers’ hut: a wooden building from the first half of the 19th century huddling in the corner of the churchyard.