Polish Gothic

Polish Gothic

The Gothic style arrived in Poland in first half the 13th century with the arrival of members of the Dominican and Franciscan orders. The first elements of the new style are evident in the foundation of the Dominican Trinity church in Kraków (1226–1250), built by Bishop Iwo Odrowąż. Another of the earliest manifestations of the Gothic in Poland was the rebuilding of the Wrocław Cathedral which started in 1244. The earliest building was completely covered in Poland, built in Gothic style chapel is considered St. Hedwig in Trzebnica (1268–1269) in the monastery of Cistercian.

In the north and west of the country, there are some scarce Romanesque predecessors (see here). Most Gothic buildings in Poland are made of brick, and belong to the Baltic Brick Gothic, especially in northern Poland (see Significant Brick Gothic buildings in Poland). Nonetheless, not all Gothic buildings in Poland are made of brick. For example, the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków is mostly stone-built. Poland also has some Gothic fieldstone churches, mostly of relatively small size. The centers of Polish Gothic are Kraków, Gdańsk, Toruń, Wrocław.

Reign of king Casimir the Great is the time of the greatest flowering of gothic architecture in Poland. For the second time a similar development took place in the late Gothic phase, during the reign of Casimir the Jagiellonian.

In the region of Małopolska (on the south) buildings were built of brick with stone blocks to the implementation details. Churches built in the area are often two-nave. Are also found very high basilica of the aisles. Silesia resembles gothic solution of Malopolska with influences from the Czech. Here, too, in addition to the blows of stone bricks were used. One of the characteristics is the location of the tower - at the intersection of the transept of the church choir, on the south-east. The architecture of the northern lands strongly influenced patterns inspired by the Teutonic Order state buildings and other cities of Hansa. Brick churches are mainly Pomerania halls of mighty towers, usually situated in the main axis. Much less common is the basilica. In Mazovia not developed different forms of Gothic. Occurring on this earth buildings are characterized by rather simplified forms already known.