The complex is made up of Baroque structures, extended in the subsequent periods, featuring valuable fittings and equipment.

History

The Bernardine monastery complex in Alwernia was founded in 1616 by Krzysztof Piotr Koryciński of the Topór coat of arms, Wojnicz castellan and Gniewków starost, and Anna of the House of Odrowąż. The foundation was continued by the successive representatives of the Koryciński family. The name of the complex refers to the Tuscan town of La Verna where St Francis of Assisi received the stigmata. Originally, the monastery was built of wood. Stone monastery (quarry stone) was built between 1625 and 1656, and the church of  the Stigmata of St Francis between 1630 and 1654 and between 1667 and 1677. The temple was consecrated by Bishop Mikołaj Oborski, a Kraków suffragan, on 16 May 1667. The semi-defensive monastery complex was surrounded by a stone wall with a south fortified tower and oriel and a bend at the gates, characteristic of Bernardine monasteries. In 1708 the small church was enlarged by adding a chapel covered with a copula with a lantern on the north side of the presbytery. In the chapel, the Ecce Homo painting was exposed. In the years 1750-1758, north of the church a Paradise Square was created with the Stations of the Cross. In 1894 late Baroque sculptures of 4 evangelists were placed on the gate pillars brought from unknown chapels associated with the procession of Corpus Christi.  Between 1897 and 1900, Franciszek Urbańczyk from Chrzanów built a tall tower adjacent to the church on the west  side and between 1889 and 1903 the monastery buildings were somewhat raised. A major renovation of the church took place between 1949 and 1957; currently, the technical and aesthetic conservation is underway of the main nave after the great fire of 2011.

Description

Towering above the town, the Bernardine monastery complex in Alwernia sits on the south-west slope of a wooded hill called Podskale, which is part of the Alwernia Ridge stretching from Mników to Zagórz. The monastery building is a storied, four-wing structure centered around a square garth surrounded by cloisters. On the east side of the monastery, there are farm buildings, an abbot house, arbor and well. From the north-west, the monastery borders on an orchard and garden and from the north on the church of the Stigmata of St Francis. The Baroque single-nave church was built of brick on the plan of the Latin cross; it is vaulted, with walls divided by pilasters with a semicircular apse presbytery and a copula. North of the presbytery, there is a domed chapel, and west of the church, the 19th century high tower. Originally, the church was intended to accommodate a modest temple and the family mausoleum of the founder. In front of the church and slightly to the north, there is Paradise Square intended for church fairs. The monastery wall features some defensive functions on the south side (over the hillside) of the symbolic nature of "spiritual fortress" and reminds of the former observation deck. The church interior dates back to 1734 (late Baroque main altar) and 1761-1763 (Rococo side altars, pulpit). The marble altar in the chapel (1712) features the miraculous image of Christ - Ecce Homo - from the turn of the 16th century.

The site can be viewed from the outside.

Compiled by Tomasz Woźniak, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kraków, 06.08.2014.

Bibliography

• Bogdanowski J., Sztuka obronna, Kraków 1993.
• Chrzanowski T., Kornecki M., Sztuka Ziemi Krakowskiej, Kraków 1982.
• Dyba O., Majka M., Zabytki architektury i budownictwa w Polsce. vol.18, part.2, Województwo krakowskie, Warszawa 1995.
• Krasnowolski B., Leksykon zabytków architektury Małopolski, Warszawa 2013.
• Kornecki M., Sztuka sakralna, Kraków 1993.
• Samek J., Przewodnik po mieście Alwerni i okolicy, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska 1995.
• Wyczawski H., Alwernia: dzieje klasztoru O.O. Bernardynów, Kraków 1957.