Przemysl Cathedral, Przemyśl, Poland

The Cathedral of Przemyśl is the main church of the Archdiocese of Przemyśl, located at the Cathedral Square in the Old Town. The first cathedral of the Diocese was a wooden church which existed from 1375 to 1412, standing in the square beside the present church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. From 1412 - 1460 a Ruthenian Orthodox cathedral built of stone stood in the courtyard of Przemyśl Castle which it was strongly associated with.

Construction of the present cathedral in the Gothic style began with the Chapter of Bishop Nicholas Błażejowski in 1495. Only the walls and pillars remain from this building. The reconstruction was completed in the first decades of the sixteenth century. In 1578 the mayor of Przemysl, Secretary of the Crown - Jan Tomasz Drohojowski (d. 1605), founded the present chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Founded on the site earlier rotunda St. Nicholas. Because of the continuous threat of incursions of the Tartars and Wallachians, it is a fortified church, surrounded by a wall and is equipped with a cannon. It is currently the seat of Archbishop Adam Szal.

In the chancel are the stone foundations of the late Romanesque rotunda of the first half of the thirteenth century cathedral. The seventeenth-century Gothic cathedral served the bishops of Przemysl to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Bishop Aleksander Antoni Fredro decided to rebuild in the Baroque style, these works were performed in the years 1724-1744. In the chancel of the Great Altar was placed huge baroque and new stalls. There are two domed chapels. One of them is Drohojowski chapel of 1578, and the other one is the late baroque Fredro chapel built in 1724.

In 1733 the roof collapsed, destroying part of church and was rebuilt afterwards and completed in 1744. At the turn of the 19th century there was another rebuilding, restoring the oldest parts of the church, in a Gothic style.

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Bengtskär Lighthouse

Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.

German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.

After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.

Piotr Garbacz (4 years ago)
Beautifil place

Roman Wawrzyniaczyk (4 years ago)
A sacred place with an important religious function. A beautiful place, impressive stained glass windows, rich architectural elements. But there is something else. The undergrounds of the cathedral, a crypt where you can see the excellently exposed burial places of Przemyśl bishops and several famous townspeople from the past. A great deal of effort and money has been invested in this endeavor. So let's throw a little donation into this piggy bank at the entrance instead of a ticket, which is not here. Worth it.

Constantijn Veder (5 years ago)
Vespers on monday evening were touchingly impressive

Максим Киреев (5 years ago)
Very beautiful

Przemysl Cathedral

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