History Of St. Mary’s Basilica

The history of St. Mary’s Basilica dates back to the 13th century, and it was built on the foundations of a Romanesque church, which was destroyed when the Mongol invaded Poland. Around the year 1320, the St. Mary’s temple was consecrated. This church underwent several changes and modifications, until, between the year 1355 and 1365, the structure was reconstructed into a spectacular Gothic monument. A significant contribution was given by Mikolaj Wierzynek, who was a wealthy burgher. Moreover, with the addition of stained, tall glass windows, the Gothic architecture of the church stood out distinctly.

During the 14th century, the St. Mary’s Basilica was adorned with the single-aisle presbytery, and this period was a significant part of the history of St. Mary’s Basilica. It was during this period, one could find light coming through the highly stained windows. However, only three of them are left now, while the rest of them were crafted by Stanistaw Wyspainski and Jozef Mehoffer, during the late 19th century.

During the years 1477-1489, the main altar was brought to the church. This altar was sculpted by Velt Stoss, and is known to be a famous gothic masterpiece. During the late 14th century, the St. Mary’s Basilica history witnesses the church taking the form of Basilica, with the side aisles being shorter than the main aisle, and the church body under the rib vault.

In the 18th century, the history of St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow witnessed the church being adorned with Baroque aesthetics. This grand work was supervised by Franceso Placidi, who is also known to create the Baroque galilee during the mid of 18th century. This galilee leads straight to the church, and was a significant addition in the St. Mary’s Basilica history, both architecturally, and politically. Since the church was decorated with open work on its tower, it was believed that this church is a replica of the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The 19th century comes with further modification to the St. Mary’s Basilica history, with the addition of the door of Galilee, made up of wood, and sculpted figures of prophets, apostles, and the saints from Poland, created in 1929, by artist Karol Kukan. Now known as St. Mary’s Square, this area in the history of St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow was initially the church cemetery and was deconstructed in the early 19th century. Moreover, massive rebuilding and restoration was followed up by Tadeusz Stryjenski, and the church was decorated with newly painted designs and crafts by Jan Matejko. When visiting the vault, you can notice that it resembles a star-filled night sky, while the paintings are mostly ornamental and heraldic in themes.