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'''St. John's Cathedral''' (]: ''Katedra św. Jana''), located in ], is one of two ]s in the ] capital. St. John's stands immediately adjacent to Warsaw's ], and is one of the oldest churches in the city and the main church of the Warsaw ]. St. John's Cathedral is one of Poland's national ]. '''St. John's Cathedral''' (]: ''Katedra św. Jana''), located in ], is one of two ]s in the ] capital. St. John's stands immediately adjacent to Warsaw's ], and is one of the oldest churches in the city and the main church of the Warsaw ]. St. John's Cathedral is one of Poland's national ].

Revision as of 18:24, 21 April 2008

Katedra św. Jana
General information
Architectural styleMazovian Gothic
Town or cityWarsaw
CountryPoland
Construction started1390
Demolished1944

St. John's Cathedral (Polish: Katedra św. Jana), located in Warsaw's Old Town, is one of two cathedrals in the Polish capital. St. John's stands immediately adjacent to Warsaw's Jesuit Church, and is one of the oldest churches in the city and the main church of the Warsaw arch-diocese. St. John's Cathedral is one of Poland's national pantheons.

History

Originally built in the 14th century as a Mazovian Gothic church, the Cathedral served as a coronation and burial site for numerous Dukes of Masovia.

The Cathedral was connected with the Royal Castle by an elevated 80-meter-long corridor that had been built by Queen Anna Jagiellon in the late 16th century and extended in the 1620s after Michał Piekarski's failed 1620 attempt to assassinate King Sigismund III in front of the Cathedral.

After the resolution of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, at the end of the session at the Royal Castle, King Stanisław August Poniatowski went to the Cathedral of St. John to repeat the Oath of the Constitution in front of the Altar, in the face of God. Also the Marshals of the Great Sejm were carried to the Cathedral on the shoulders of the enthusiastic deputies of the Sejm.

The church was rebuilt several times, most notably in the 19th century, it was preserved until World War II as an example of English Gothic Revival.

Leveled by the Germans during the Warsaw Uprising (August–October 1944), it was rebuilt after the war. The exterior reconstruction is based on the 14th-century church's presumed appearance (according to an early-17th-century Hogenberg illustration and a 1627 Abraham Boot drawing), not on its prewar appearance.

Interior

Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Stanisław by Palma il Giovane, 1930s photo.

The profuse Early Baroque decoration inside from the beginning of the 17th century and magnificent painting on the main altar by Palma il Giovane depicting Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Stanisław were destroyed in German bombing of the church on August 17, 1944. The remains of the church were blown up by the Germans in November 1944. Only one wall that somehow managed to survive was all that was left of the six hundred year old edifice. This devastation of a Polish national monument was a part of the Planned destruction of Warsaw, which had officially begun after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising.

The painting of the Virgin and Child.. was created in 1618 for King Sigismund III Vasa especially to place on the central altar of the St. John's Cathedral. As a masterpiece it was confiscated on Napoleon's order and transported to Paris. Retrieved by Warsaw authorities in 1820s after the Congress of Vienna. It survived many wars and the bombing of Warsaw since it was created, but did not survive the last one during the WWII.

The interior reconstruction design considerably differed from the pre-war Cathedral, taking it back in time to its raw Gothic look, because very little of the cathedral's original furnishings has been preserved.

Buried

The interior of the cathedral in 1836 by Marcin Zaleski

The crypts beneath the main aisle hold the remains of notable persons, including:

Gallery

Historical images

  • View of Warsaw near the end of the 16th century by Frans Hogenberg View of Warsaw near the end of the 16th century by Frans Hogenberg
  • St. John's Cathedral (left) and the Jesuit Church (right) in 1627 St. John's Cathedral (left) and the Jesuit Church (right) in 1627
  • Cathedral with over 80 m tall Sobieski Tower. Early 18th century view Cathedral with over 80 m tall Sobieski Tower. Early 18th century view
  • Prewar photo of Cathedral, with its distinctive English-Gothic façade Prewar photo of Cathedral, with its distinctive English-Gothic façade

Works of art

References

  1. ^ Stefan Kieniewicz, ed., Warszawa w latach 1526-1795 (Warsaw in 1526–1795), vol. II, Warsaw, 1984, ISBN 8301033231.
  2. ^ sztuka.net
  3. Kwiatkowska Maria, Katedra Św. Jana, Warszawa, 1978.
  4. Stara Warszawa z lat 20-tych XX wieku

See also

External links

52°14′56″N 21°00′49″E / 52.24889°N 21.01361°E / 52.24889; 21.01361

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