Gate of the Dawn
The Gate of Dawn (also Spitzes Tor ; Lithuanian Aušros Vartai , also Aštria broma ; Polish Ostra Brama ; Belarusian Вострая Брама ) is one of the most important cultural and architectural monuments of the city of Vilnius . It is also an important place of pilgrimage for Catholics as well as Orthodox and Uniate (ie Greek Catholic ) Christians.
description
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The Gate of Dawn is located in the historic city walls of Vilnius.
From the side facing the city the interior side of a staircase leading to a gallery at the top of the door upstairs where a Torkapelle with revered as miraculous icon , a Black Madonna , the Merciful Mother of God , (Latin Mater misericordiae , Polish Matka Boża Miłosierdzia , Belarusian Маці Міласэрнасьці ) is located. It is (Lithuanian as the "Mother of God the Gates of Dawn" Aušros Vartų Dievo Motina ) or "Mother of God in tips Gate" (Polish Matka Boska Ostrobramska , Belarusian Маці Божая Вастрабрамская called) and as a patron of the Lithuanians and Belarusians , but also of Polish Pilgrims are deeply revered.
The outside of the gate was provided with a relief in the upper area , which shows the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the so-called Vytis ( Belarusian Пагоня ; Pahonja ). It is a white equestrian figure on a dark ( red ) background, carrying a shield on which a cross with two crossbars is depicted. The national coats of arms of the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Belarus (until 1995) are derived from this coat of arms .
Surname
Opinions differ as to the origin of the name. What is certain is that the gate has always been known as the "Pointed Gate". But there are also different versions of the etymology of this name. While some claim that it refers to the pointed Gothic tower towers that once existed here, others believe that the name is a reference to a neighborhood in Vilnius (the so-called pointed end , Ostry Koniec in Polish ). But it is also possible that the name comes from the small alley that tapers sharply on the inner side of the city towards the gate.
The name “Gate of Dawn” did not appear in Lithuanian newspapers until the beginning of the 20th century, but obviously has no relation to the direction of the compass, as the gate does not face east.
Another name is "Miedniker Tor" (Polish Brama Miednicka , Belarusian Медніцкая Брама ), as the road from the gate led to Miednik (Lithuanian Medininkai ) 30 kilometers from Vilnius .
history
At the beginning of the 16th century, Vilnius was fortified with a city wall by a joint decision of the Bishop of Vilnius and the city council. As early as October 1503, the bishop was able to inaugurate the wall that encompassed the entire city.
The pointed gate itself was built in the Gothic style from 1503 to 1522 , along with five other city gates (the city received nine gates in total). A few years after the actual gate was completed, a facade with five loopholes and a gate structure in the Renaissance style were added above the archway , which is now adorned by the "Vytis", the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the years from 1621 to 1626 a Carmelite monastery was built right next to the gate on the city side . In 1652 the icon of Our Lady of Mercy came to Vilnius and was placed in the Pointed Gate. A separate chapel was not available at that time, there were only shutters to protect the icon from rain. In 1671, however, the Carmelites created a wooden chapel for the portrait over the archway. In a fire in 1706, the chapel remained intact. But already in 1715 another fire destroyed almost the entire city, including the wooden chapel. Therefore a new stone chapel was built in 1722. It has been rebuilt and restored several times since then, most recently before Pope John Paul II's visit in 1993. Since the renovation in the 1830s, the chapel in the Gate of Dawn has been a closed gallery with access to the Church of St. Teresa .
Icon of Our Lady of Mercy
The icon of Our Lady of Mercy is one of the most important shrines in Lithuania, Belarus and Poland and is considered to be miraculous.
The icon's creator is unknown. It is sometimes the Krakow champion Lukasz attributed , who painted in 1624 a similar for Krakow Corpus Christi Church. However, there are also other versions of the icon's origin, such as the one that the Grand Duke Algirdas ( Olgierd in Polish ) brought it from Crimea . A scientific study from 1927 revealed that the icon dates from the second half of the 16th century and was probably created by an Italian master. The icon (165 × 200 cm), which was painted on 2 cm thick oak panels, was given a golden robe in 1671, so that only the face of Our Lady and her hands can be seen. The silver crescent moon is a votive offering from 1849. Our Lady wears two gold-plated silver crowns on her head, one on top of the other. One of the crowns is designed in baroque style, the other in rococo style . The icon was crowned in 1927 following a decree by Pope Pius XI. in the presence of high-ranking representatives of the clergy and the Polish President Józef Piłsudski . Since 1928, the icon has been in a protective container specially made for it. Pope John Paul II prayed here on September 4, 1993, and Pope Francis on September 22, 2018 .
The Gate of Dawn in Literature
The Spitz Tor, especially the image of the Virgin Mary, has been sung about and described again and again by Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian poets and writers in their texts.
- Adam Mickiewicz : Pan Tadeusz
- Maksim Bahdanowitsch : "Pahonja" (Belarusian: Пагоня)
See also
literature
- Martin Schulze Wessel , Irene Götz , Ekaterina Makhotina (eds.): Vilnius. History and memory of a city between cultures . Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2010, ISBN 978-3-593-39308-7 , pp. 117, 122f., 136-140.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Introduction: Księga pierwsza: Gospodarstwo in the Polish-language Wikipedia
Coordinates: 54 ° 40 ′ 27.8 " N , 25 ° 17 ′ 22.5" E