St. Dorothea's Church

Wrocław, Poland

The Church of Sts. Dorothea, Wenceslaus, and Stanislaus was founded to commemorate the signing of a treaty between Casimir III the Great of Poland and Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The patrons of the church represented Bohemia, Poland, and Silesia: the coat of arms of the three realms were placed under the windows on the outside of the apse. The church was built under the supervision of the Augustinian hermits on a plot of land purchased by the burghers Job Stille and Jakob Reymfried.

The church was built in 1351 as a three-nave, high hall with a pentagonal chancel and apse covered with a cross vault. The chancel was completed in 1381, and the apse and nave in 1401. In 1350 the church was taken over by the Franciscan order expelled from the Church of St. Vincent. However, the number of brothers continued to dwindle rapidly due to the Reformation and already by 20 October 1534 they had left the building. It was not until October 15, 1561 that Emperor Ferdinand I allowed the deconsecration of the building and their temporary use for storage. Subsequent plains to bring in the Jesuits were unsuccessful, and in 1613 Emperor Matthias returned the building to the Franciscan Order, who took over the buildings on February 6, 1615. In 1686, the interior was rebuilt in an ornate Baroque style, as was the monastery building. In 1707 the church was made a parish church.

After the Prussian secularization order of 1810, the monastery buildings were used as a jail from 1817, and then after 1852 was used by the court. It entered a long decay, until the end of the 19th century it was decided to demolish then and the land was sold. On the site of the monastery was built a department store and the Hotel Monopol. In front of the western façade of a church was built a new entrance with a Gothic portal and a small square.

During the Siege of Breslau at the end of World War II, the church sustained only minor damage, and as a result it was one of the best preserved medieval buildings in Wrocław. After the war, it was for a time used as the city's procathedral.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: c. 1240
Category: Religious sites in Poland

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Kristýna Vacardová (2 months ago)
Quite an ordinary but still majestic church, free entry.
Dorota W. (4 years ago)
A beautiful church, a short, "meaningful" Holy Mass.
Nika Barishvili (6 years ago)
Beautiful church in Wroclaw.
Andrzej Wilk (6 years ago)
Must See, oryginał and beauty
emsik 785 (7 years ago)
Cudowny kościół w centrum miasta. W upalne dni można schronić się pod "dobrymi skrzydłami"
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.