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Vol. 69 (1988): Our Past

Articles

The oldest religious buildings at Wawel in the light of the archaeological and architectural research

  • Zbigniew Pianowski
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.1988.69.159-172  [Google Scholar]
Published: 1988-06-30

Abstract

The author tries to answer the question: when did the oldest religious buildings appear on Wawel? Archaeological excavations carried out at Wawel in the 20th century led to the discovery of the following pre-Romanesque buildings: the rotunda of the Blessed Virgin Mary (later St. Felix and St. Adauktus), a quadrangular building in the arcade courtyard, a wall in the fortifications at the Thieves' Tower, the so-called church "B", the wall in the Batory courtyard, the rotunda under the chapter house and the relics of St. Peter's Basilica. Wacław. Of the seven pre-Romanesque buildings, four were undoubtedly churches, two may have been churches, and the four-sided building served as a secular household. At the current stage of research, the most probable assumption seems to be that the recently discovered group of brick buildings comes from the early Piast period; the possibility of erecting brick buildings here earlier, in the second half of the 10th century, is not excluded. The beginnings of monumental stone architecture in Krakow can be traced back to the times when a Latin rite bishopric already existed in the areas penetrated by Christianity. It seems that the most favorable period for the creation of the Wawel complex was the final period of the reign of Bolesław the Brave, when, after the Kiev-Kraków expedition in 1018, it could become a prince's residence for some time.

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