St. James and Agnes (Nysa)
The basilica of St. James and Agnes (historically mostly St. James) is the largest church in the city of Nysa (Neisse) in the Opole Voivodeship . The Gothic hall church is one of the most important sacred buildings in Silesia and was built from around 1392 to 1430. From Pope Benedict XVI. she was raised to the rank of a minor basilica in 2009 .
history
Previous buildings
Originally there was a Romanesque church at the same place, built by the Wroclaw Bishop Siroslaus II († 1198) and his successor Jaroslaw von Opole († 1201). This church was destroyed during the first Mongol raid in 1241, only foundations and pillars remained.
In 1249, during the quarrel between Boleslaw the Wild and Henry the White , the church fell victim to a major fire. After the reconstruction, the church lasted about 150 years, despite the damage caused by the armed forces of Henry the Just in 1285 .
Construction and extensions in the 14th to 16th centuries
Thanks to the foundation of the Duke of Liegnitz and Bishop of Breslau Wenzels von Liegnitz (1348–1419), the Gothic choir with a surrounding ambulatory was created . In the next few years the main nave was built with six bays, but it burned down in 1401.
In 1424 the councilors of Neisse decided to build a representative church and bishop's seat at the city's expense, which they commissioned the builder Peter Frankenstein. He built a Gothic brick church with sandstone elements (partly on the Romanesque foundations) based on the model of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin and St. Adalbert in Gniezno . A three-aisled hall church with 27 m high pillars was built, which was the patronage of the Apostle James the Elder and St. Agnes of Rome retained after the previous churches. Before 1551 a new roof structure with an extremely steep slate covering was built. In 1553 the gable of the main facade was crowned with a wooden structure.
During the fire on May 20, 1542, the net vault of the main nave collapsed and was replaced by a star net vault . In the middle of the 16th century, thanks to the foundation of Bishop Martin von Gerstmann (1527–1585), the organ choir was expanded, creating a "citizens choir".
Between 1648 and 1650, thanks to the private donation of Anna Gritzner, a memorial chapel for the dead of the Thirty Years War was built (today a baptistery ).
17th to 19th century
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the interior was redesigned in the Baroque style , reducing the number of altars from 43 to 23, covering the wall and ceiling paintings with stucco and removing many Gothic sculptures, pictures and church windows. In 1690 the so-called small sacristy , 1677–1679 a side chapel and a high altar were built from the foundation of Cardinal Friedrich von Hessen-Darmstadt (1616–1682) .
From 1650 to 1810 the church served as the seat of the Wroclaw bishops, so a bishop's throne was erected. Richly decorated choir stalls were built for the canons who moved from Ottmachau .
The church suffered significant damage in 1741 during the Silesian Wars . After the early reconstruction, the church received two new chapels - the Trinity Chapel on the north side and the Eucharist Chapel on the south side .
Further damage was caused during the artillery bombardment of the city by the Grande Armée in 1807 .
Neo-Gothic renovation from 1889
From 1889–1895 the church was thoroughly renovated under the direction of the architect Joseph Ebers . The baroque interior was replaced by a neo-Gothic one. A new ribbed vault was erected above the main nave, replacing the previous star-net vault. The painter Augustin Pischel painted it with new frescoes. The earlier baroque frescoes were destroyed.
The tomb of Bishop Jakob von Salza (1481–1539) was removed from the choir and a stone canopy was erected in its place . In the choir arch, a choir beam based on a medieval model was used, with the crucifixion group from the years 1400–1430. A new entrance hall with two richly decorated portals was added on the west side .
20th century
After the great flooding in 1938, the foundations were fixed with cement injections. The remains of the Romanesque church were discovered.
Shortly before the start of the Second World War , attempts were made to restore the church to its original appearance, the canopy and the neo-Gothic wall paintings were removed, the walls were painted white.
During the fighting on March 21, 1945 the roof stalls, the baroque organ front, two chapels and the crucifixion group from the choir beam burned. Further damage occurred, such as the west gable collapsed and the church windows smashed.
The pastor at that time, Father Karl Wawra, was able to save some pieces - the side altars came to Jauernig (Czech: Javorník) ( Czech Republic ). Javornik - with a direct train connection to Neisse - was the refuge of Cardinal Adolf Bertram , who died there on July 6, 1945 on Johannesberg . The sacred device was walled in under the high altar.
The reconstruction took place according to the design of the Warsaw architect Feliks Kanclerz († 1969). The new roof stalls were made of steel to avoid the risk of fire. The roof areas were covered with roof tiles, a roof turret was created in the middle . The foundations were fixed and three new church windows were installed according to the design of the painter Adam Stalony-Dobrzański.
A late Gothic triptych from the beginning of the 16th century, which survived the war in the Czech Republic, was installed in place of the heavily damaged neo-Gothic high altar . It consists of a central part in the form of a relief and two wings with painted representations of the Passion . It is the only one of the 43 medieval altars in this church.
Next to the church is the Gothic bell tower , construction of which began in 1474. The fourth floor was finished in 1516. Originally the tower was supposed to reach a height of 100 to 120 meters, but was never completed.
Until 1914 there were eight bells in the tower, the oldest, “St. James ”, from the 15th century and weighed 8.2 tons. During the fire in 1945 the bell melted and two new bells were cast from the metal.
The St. Jakobs treasure chamber was built in the tower in 2005, with an exhibition of works mostly by Neiss goldsmiths.
The reconstruction was finished in 1961, but the conservation work continues uninterrupted. The church was consecrated by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński on August 15, 1959. Pope Benedict XVI granted the church the title of a minor basilica in 2009 , and on February 28, 2011 , President Bronisław Komorowski elevated the church to a “monument to history”.
The church was registered on September 28, 1955 under 172/55 in the register of architectural monuments of the Opole Voivodeship
Side view
Main entrance (19th century)
Bell tower
View of the organ
High altar
Tomb Vinzenz Hortensius († 1555)
Coordinates: 50 ° 28 ′ 28.5 ″ N , 17 ° 20 ′ 3.9 ″ E
literature
- J. Daniel, I. Zielonka: Nysa. Przystanek wędrowca (Neisse. A hiker's stop): Nysa 2007: ISBN 978-83-912169-6-5
- Marek Sikorski: "Nysa. Skarby sztuki i osobliwości" (Neisse. Art treasures and sights): 1999,: Silesiapress ISBN 83-909213-0-8
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ K. Strauchmann, Tajemnice gotyckiej perły (Secrets of the Gothic Pearl), "Nowa Trybuna Opolska", August 14, 2009.
- ↑ http://www.nid.pl/pl/Informacje_ogolne/Zabytki_w_Polsce/rejestr-zabytkow/zestawienia-zabytkow-nieruchomych/OPO-rej.pdf