St. Peter and Paul (Vilnius)
The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul ( Lithuanian Šventų apaštalų Petro ir Povilo bažnyčia ) is one of the most important churches in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius . The Catholic Church is a representative of the baroque architectural style and impresses in particular with its masterful stucco work , which fill the entire interior of the church.
Architecture and interior design
The church was essentially built in the years 1668–1675 according to plans by the Polish architect Jan Zaor , who directed the construction work until 1671. The Italian architect Giambattista Frediani then took over the construction management. The interior decoration and the roof work began in 1676, was interrupted in 1685/6 after the death of the founder Pac, resumed by other artists in 1691 and completed in 1704.
In the tradition of the Italian Baroque and similar to the older Casimir Church in Vilnius , the church stands on the plan of a Latin cross with a large, light-giving dome over the crossing . It has only one continuous nave, the ceiling of which is designed in the form of a barrel vault with strongly structured belt arches . On the sides of the ship there are chapels connected by passages. On the left and right of the choir are sacristies , the left of which is connected to the monastery by a gallery (see below).
From the outside, the building looks a bit compressed, because the mighty column portal - it represents the first (and unusual) use of columns in Lithuania in the Baroque era, in contrast to the usual pilasters - is only framed by two narrow towers. There is a lack of curved lines and any emphasis on the vertical.
The interior of the church, which is almost entirely white, is impressive, covered with stucco work and decorated with sculptures . These works were carried out by the artists Pietro Perti from Muggio, Ticino, Switzerland and Giovanni Maria Galli. The stucco decorations frame frescoes by an unknown artist (probably Michelangelo Palloni) on the ceiling of the nave and in the belt arch above the organ . Despite their abundance, the stucco work has a clear order through the pilasters on the walls and straps in the vaults . In addition to the pilasters, the vertical is emphasized by rectangular, elongated reliefs and figures in niches. The horizontal structure is in turn determined by a powerful, all-round main cornice with a frieze below . The semi-sculptural stucco work shows plant motifs, faces and masks, putti and cherubim as well as religious figures, but also everyday scenes and weapons (paying respect to the donor). The side chapels are particularly imaginative and vivid with reliefs in the vaulted ceilings and semi-sculptural figures above the arches or in the corners.
At the beginning of the 19th century, extensive restoration work was carried out inside, which often did not come close to the mastery of the originals. In addition, the pulpit was created in the Rococo style in the form of a ship. At the same time the altar from 1700/01 was sold; he stands today in the church of Boczki , Poland . The large altarpiece The Farewell of Saints Peter and Paul is by Franciszek Smuglewicz (lit. Pranciškus Smuglevičius ) (1805), the four figures in the chancel by Kazimierz Jelski.
In the niche on the left in front of the chancel today stands the miraculous figure of Jesus Ecce homo , which was moved in 1864 from the monastery of the Trinitarian Order, closed by the Russian administration, not far from the Peter and Paul Church. The bass drum on display in the church was one of Pac's booty in the war against the Ottomans ( Battle of Chotyn 1673 ) and donated it to the church. The conspicuous chandelier in the shape of a ship in the central nave dates from 1905. The present organ comes from the workshop of the Vilnius organ builder Jozef Radawicz in 1907. It replaced a previous one from 1780.
In May 2010, the Peter and Paul Church received the bells from the Stephanus Church in Essen-Holsterhausen, which was closed in 2008.
The organ was created by Juozapas Radavičius .
history
The Church of St. Peter and Paul is located outside the historic old town of Vilnius in the suburb of Antakalnis. A new wooden church was built here from 1609 to 1616 in place of an earlier one from the 16th century. It was destroyed again in 1655 during the war with Moscow . At this point in time the church was already attached to a monastery of the Augustinian Canons of the Lateran Congregation (since 1625). The client for the new building was the hetman (Lithuanian military leader) Michał Kazimierz Pac (lit. Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas ), who wanted to create a mausoleum with his foundation . He died before the building was completed in 1682 and was buried under the threshold of the entrance. His tombstone is now on the right side of the entrance and bears the inscription Hic iacet peccator ( Here lies a sinner ). The reference to the founder is also clear from the inscription in the portal : In the saying Regina pacis funda nos in pace ( Queen of peace strengthen us in peace ), Pac's family name is referred to.
With the onset of repression after the second Lithuanian-Polish uprising in 1863, the monastery was closed the following year. It subsequently served as a storage room for the military and, after the Second World War, a school for radio electronics.
A planned conversion of the Peter and Paul Church into an Orthodox church failed due to the high costs, the church remained Catholic . It was one of the few churches in the city that was also open for services during the Soviet period (1944–1989). After the cathedral was closed in 1953, it housed the coffin of St. Casimir until 1989 . Today the church serves the Lithuanian and Polish Catholic communities.
The “sister church” of St. Peter and Paul in Vilnius is the church of the Pažaislis monastery near Kaunas in terms of structure and history .
Individual evidence
literature
- Samalavičius, Stasys: Masterpiece of the Baroque - Church of SS. Peter and Paul in Vilnius; Europos lietuvis; Vilnius, 2004. (Brochure, 48 p. With ill.)
Web links
Organ of the St. Peter and Paul Church
Coordinates: 54 ° 41 ′ 38.4 " N , 25 ° 18 ′ 21.6" E