St. Vitalis Church (Włocławek)
The St. Vitalis Church in Włocławek is the seminary church of the seminary of the diocese of Włocławek . The Gothic church is the oldest preserved architectural monument in Włocławek. Between 1330 and 1411 it served as a replacement for the burned down cathedral.
architecture
The church was built in the brick Gothic style . It is a single-nave hall church with a retracted, polygonal closed choir , which deviates from the nave axis to the left, which is supposed to resemble the position of Jesus dying on the cross . The interior is vaulted with ribs . The exterior of the church is characterized by the buttresses .
history
Immediately after the destruction of Włocławek and the burning of the previous cathedral on the Vistula by Teutonic Knights in 1329, Bishop Matthias from Paluka founded this church in 1330. Until the completion of the new cathedral basilica in 1411, it served as a temporary cathedral . Then she was handed over to the nearby St. Vitalis Hospital ( poor house ). Together with the hospital , it was supposed to be kept by the cathedral chapter , but the latter was of the opinion that the successor of the bishop should take care of the maintenance of the church. But the bishops refused and so the neglected church soon fell into disrepair. In the 15th century it was completely ruined and without a roof and needed a thorough renovation .
Bishop Wladyslaw Oporowski called a fundraising campaign to save the St. Vitalis Church, at the same time as complete indulgence for donors. It is not known whether the intended restoration actually took place at the time. According to sources, the canon Tobiasz Janikowski had the church renovated about 100 years later, from 1534 to 1544, at his own expense. The previous wooden vault was replaced by the Gothic brick vault, which has been preserved to this day. It is a rib vault in which ribs fall on wide supports.
The seminary, built in 1569, took over parts of the hospital building and the St. Vitalis Church. At that time it stood away from the seminar building and was surrounded by a fenced-in cemetery . After 1717 a small sacristy was added to the north of the choir and the tower was converted into a bell tower .
In 1843 a new seminar building was added to the St. Vitalis Church so that the church could be entered directly from the seminar corridor. However, it was still open to all believers. In 1866 it was reserved for the sole use of the seminary (the faithful only gathered there for the indulgence of St. Vitalis , which is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, and occasionally on other occasions).
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In the 19th and 20th centuries the St. Vitalis Church was renovated several times and its interior was changed. From 1851 to 1853 it was renovated under the direction of the seminary prefect Pastor Franciszek Płoszczyński. The old four-sided tower was covered with sheet iron, the cupola covered with sheet copper was left, the inner walls were repaired and plastered. In 1888 the dilapidated tower was torn down and a new tower designed by Konstanty Wojciechowski was built in the neo-Gothic style, which was covered with sheet copper. The church was painted polychrome in 1854, 1873 and 1895 . Altars and altar paintings were often changed. Mostly there was a high altar and two side altars. In 1880 four stained glass windows were installed, these were replaced by white glass in 1903, probably to provide better natural lighting for the church.
From 1930 to 1934 the St. Vitalis Church was restored, the interior plaster was removed and renewed. The ribs, which were partially removed in the Baroque period, were added and left visible in brick. The former music gallery was demolished and a new one was created from part of the seminary corridor by the church. Plastered parts of the outer walls were exposed; A valuable Gothic triptych from around 1460 was placed on the main altar . In 1936 a new organ was purchased from the S. Truszczyński company from Włocławek, which is still in use today.
During the occupation in World War II , the church was considered German and was used for Sunday services for German soldiers who were housed in the seminar building in the war hospital.
In 1971–1972 the church was completely renovated for the last time. It received a new tiled roof, rotten bricks in the walls were replaced and the exterior decoration was reconstructed. Thanks to these efforts, two Gothic brick portals regained their previous shape; one frames the main entrance of the church (from the seminary corridor) and the other forms the side entrance in its north wall. The window openings were glazed with slug panes. The entire interior was replaced by a contemporary one: a folk altar made of granite, a wooden altar for the tabernacle , pulpit, benches, doors, lighting (with new chandeliers ) and sound systems were installed . Only the bell on the wall opposite the main entrance of the church remained from the previous neo-Gothic interior .
In 2000 the roof and the tower were rebuilt and a new bell was raised. In 2002 the interior of the church was renovated and equipped with a new sound system.
literature
Web link
Coordinates: 52 ° 39 ′ 35.2 " N , 19 ° 4 ′ 4.8" E