Woźniki Monastery
Woźniki Monastery is a Franciscan monastery in the Greater Poland Voivodeship in Poland.
history
St. Francis of Assisi was venerated here as early as the 15th century. In 1660 Kazimierz Rogaliński, the landlord of Woźniki, donated the church and the monastery and invited the Franciscan Reformates of St. Anthony of Padua from the Wielkopolska province there. Instead of the old chapel, the church and monastery were built in half-timbered style. St. Francis of Assisi was the patron saint of the chapel. In 1706 the church and the monastery burned down. Construction of the new church and monastery began in 1710 based on a design by Giovanni Catenazzi . The founder of the church and monastery was Franciszek Mielżyński. The church was completed in 1723 and the monastery in 1750.
The painter and architect Mateusz Osiecki participated in the construction . Around 1775 the altars, pulpit, stalls, confessionals and the cupboards in the sacristy were uniformly designed.
The extensive monastery library was created mainly through donations and purchases. The Mielżyński family donated some of the books to the Poznan Science Lovers Library in the interwar period.
The monastery was closed by the Prussian administration in 1836 . Jan Chryzostom Chrzeliński remained as the last friar in Woźniki until his death in 1841. He is buried in the crypt of the church.
In 1842 the government handed the church and monastery over to the owner of Woźniki, Konstancja Mielżyńska, who set up a family vault in the crypt. A short time later the monastery building was demolished except for the east wing. The road between Woźniki and Kotowo and a sheepfold were built from the demolition material.
In 1909, Zygmunt Kurnatowski became the new owner of Woźniki and, after his death, his son Andrzej, who in 1936 proposed the purchase of Woźniki to the Franciscans from the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Katowice . The purchase failed because of the high price and the poor state of construction. During the Second World War , the Nazis used the monastery church as a warehouse. After the war the buildings were handed over to the forest administration. The equipment of the monastery church was distributed to other churches in the region. The state wanted to save the church from further deterioration and had the roof re-covered.
Monastery church
After the canon Hieronim Lewandowski from Poznań visited the complex in 1975, he decided to save the church building. It was handed over to the Poznań Archdiocese on January 30th. Shortly afterwards, the rebuilding and renovation of the church began. On June 20, 1976, Archbishop Antoni Baraniak consecrated the church. Two years later, the church with the remaining part of the monastery was given to the Franciscan province of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The first friar who renewed religious life after 137 years was Zdzisław Regulski. In the years 1985–1987 he renovated the monastery wing as the living quarters of the friars. The renovation of the church continued. It was possible to regain most of the church furnishings . The missing elements have been reconstructed.
The works of art in the church include the altar pendium and the cross from 1540 in the niche behind the pulpit , a gift from the parish of St. Adalbert in Poznań . On the vault of the sacristy, the wall painting from the end of the 18th century with the Last Supper has been preserved. A baroque figure represents the risen Christ. The monstrance was bought back from the parish church in Ptaszkowo. Under the music choir is the entrance to the crypt, where the friars and the founders of the church and the monastery are buried, including an archbishop from Kiev who died in Woźniki in 1717.
Behind the church is the cemetery for the friars.
literature
- Paweł Klint, Alojzy Pańczak: Klasztor Franciszkanów w Woźnikach. Dzieje-ludzie-budowle. Publishing house Opalgraf, Woźniki 2011 (Polish)
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 15 ′ 11 " N , 16 ° 27 ′ 45" E