Bernardine Monastery (Alwernia)

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Alwernia monastery church

The Bernardine Monastery of Alwernia with the Church of the Stigmata of St. Francis is a Saint Bernard monastery and a Polish pilgrimage site in Alwernia , around 28 km west of Krakow . It was founded in 1616 on the initiative of the landowner Krzysztof Koryciński. It is mainly visited on September 17th, when the Franciscan orders celebrate the commemoration of the stigmatization of St. Francis of Assisi . The place is known for the miraculous image Ecce homo .

history

The founder of the Alwernia Monastery was Krzysztof Koryciński, Castellan of Wojnicz and Governor of Gniewków and thus the owner of the surrounding villages. The idea for the construction of the monastery arose during a visit to the pilgrimage site of the stigmatization of St. Francis in La Verna (lat.Alvernia) in Italy. In 1616 a wooden church was built near the village of Poręba Żegoty on a hill called Podskały (about Subskalen ), which was reminiscent of the Italian landscape around the hermitage of La Verna. A baroque brick church was built between 1625 and 1656. From 1703 to 1708 there was a small chapel for the miraculous image of Ecce Homocultivated. In 1897, Stefan Podworski added a 55 meter high tower.

The town of Alwernia was founded in 1796 on the east side of the monastery hill. In the course of time, the Saint Bernards also took on pastoral care for the residents, so that the monastery church is also the parish church of the village today. In the 19th century the pilgrimage increased strongly, especially by pilgrims from Upper Silesia. Today there are seven religious in the convent . In 2011 the roof of the church was destroyed by fire.

Miraculous image Ecce Homo

Ecce homo in Alwernia

The miraculous image was first mentioned in 1453. The image is said to come from the chapel of Emperor Constantine VII . After the fall of Constantinople, Mehmed II did not have the painting destroyed. Ferdinand II is said to have finally acquired it from Murad IV and prayed before it during the hardest hours of the Thirty Years War . It finally reached the monastery church of Alwernia via a high official and other intermediate stations. The picture in a brass frame with the dimensions 65 cm × 50 cm is painted and glued on canvas. In 1700 it was decorated with a silver frame by pilgrims. On the night of January 12th to 13th, 1984, the precious metal decorations were stolen. But this was added again.

  • Monastery church

  • Choir

  • organ

  • Monastery building

Web links

Commons : Bernardine Monastery (Alwernia)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Alwernia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 1.2 ″  N , 19 ° 32 ′ 5.6 ″  E