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Archpresbyterial (Parish) Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Zabytek.pl

Archpresbyterial (Parish) Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary


church 1280-1320 Chełmno

Address
Chełmno, Franciszkańska 8a

Location
woj. kujawsko-pomorskie, pow. chełmiński, gm. Chełmno (gm. miejska)

One of the most impressive brick churches in the Gothic style in the Chełmno Land and the largest of the seven existing churches in Chełmno.

It was erected in the 13th/14th century and did not undergo any substantial alteration works in the centuries that followed that would disrupt the Gothic appearance of the church or the impression of stylistic consistency. The church was redesigned in 1883-1884 in the neo-Gothic style.

The site is located in an area designated as a monument of history: Chełmno – Old Town – recognised as a Monument of History by  way of Ordinance of the President of the Republic of Poland dated 13 April 2005 (Dz. U. [Polish Journal of Laws] No. 64 of 2005, item 568).

History

The church was erected based on a uniform design (which was partially modified during the construction) in three stages:

The first stage (c. 1280-1290) covered the construction of the chancel, which was covered with a ceiling at the turn of the 14th century and construction of the northern aisle

The second stage (early 14th century) covered the construction of the body with a nave slightly narrower than the current one and the creation of the defensive walls of the two-tower western part of the church;

The third stage (before 1320) covered the construction of the southern aisle and the pillars between the aisles, as well as upward extension of the entire building (turning it into a hall church), covering the body with a ceiling and construction of the lower tower storeys, with the northern one extended upwards after 1501 and the southern one unfinished.

In 1519, the parish church in Chełmno attained the status of a collegiate church and was handed over to the Brethren of the Common Life.

A Marian chapel, a chapel of Corpus Christi and a southern porch were added in 1560, the late 17th century and 1706, respectively.

In the years 1676–1825, it served as a seminar church and was managed by the Congregation of the Mission, which introduced numerous new elements – especially to the décor. The parish church was renovated in 1843 and 1864, but significant restoration and regothicising did not happen until the years 1883-1884. In the years 1925-1928, Gothic painted decorations were discovered and underwent conservation works and new wall paintings were created – the works were performed by Stanisław Smogulecki under the supervision of Jan Rutkowski. In recent years, numerous renovation and conservation works were carried out in the church, including renovation of the roof, conservation of the Gothic frescos and placement of new stone flooring.

Description

The church is situated within the Chełmno old town complex, within the market square block demarcated by Franciszkańska Street, 22 Stycznia Street, Toruńska Street and Szkolna Street.

The Gothic body is oriented towards the east and built on a nearly square floor plan following a five-bay, three-aisle layout, with the aisles having nearly equal width, is preceded by a two-tower western section, which is flanked by cylindrical staircase towers from the north and the south.

From the east, it features a rectangular, three-bay chancel with rectangular termination. From the south, two eastern bays of the chancel are adjoined by a sacristy from the 1st quarter of the 14th century, which follows a three-bay layout with semi-hexagonal termination from the east and is preceded from the west by a more recent vestibule.

Adjoining the western bay of the chancel, there are two chapels incorporated into the extensions of side aisled: the northern one is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows and was funded in 1560 by Jan Niemojewski, the castellan of Chełmno, while the southern one is dedicated to Corpus Christi.

In the middle of the side façades of the main body, there are side porches which protect the entrances; the northern porch is in the Gothic style and dates back to the 14th century, the southern porch is in the Baroque style and was erected after 1706. A low annex from the 14th century adjoins the eastern bay of the southern aisle; it was thoroughly remodelled in the 17th century.

The nave body of the hall church and the chancel have a common gable roof with a single roof ridge. Each bay of the aisles is covered with a separate roof with its ridge perpendicular to the church axis

The southern tower is topped with a tented roof while the northern one is topped with an octagonal pyramidal roof; above the chancel, there is a Baroque steeple from the 18th century.

The church is made of brick laid in the monk and Gothic bonds, with architectural decorations from hand-made brick, artificial stone and limestone. The nave, the chancel and the sacristy feature cross rib vaults, the porch underneath the tower features a stellar vault, and the chapels feature double barrel vaults.

The east façade of the chancel features a triforium with blind pointed-arch windows in the ground floor section, above which on the axis there is a large quadripartite window with tracery made of artificial stone; it is crowned with a triangular gable flanked by pinnacles with battlements. The gable is decorated with blind windows in arranged two zones; in the bottom one, the five middle blind windows are topped with brick wimpergs.

The north and south façades of the body have six axes and each of the bays of the façade is topped with a triangular gable separated by a cornice and adorned with blind windows. The buttresses supporting the side aisles are topped with lavishly designed pinnacles.

The west façade has three axes and features two towers; between the towers, it is topped with a triangular gable partitioned by four lesenes which terminate in pinnacles topped with small pyramids. The towers are not equal in height (the northern being the tallest in the town) and their storeys are separated from each other by friezes and adorned with blind windows and double window openings.

The interior is divided into aisles by octagonal pillars and pentagonal engaged pillars and decorated with painted stucco figures of eleven apostles from c. 1330-1340.

The walls of the church are adorned with painted decorations: in the Gothic style as well as created in the late 17th and 18th centuries.

The church décor is not uniform in terms of style. The majority of fixtures and fittings were designed in the Baroque and Rococo styles. There are noteworthy examples of medieval stonework, such as the Romanesque baptismal font made of Gotland stone from the 1st half of the 13th century (in the southern porch), the marble tombstone of Albert Longus from c. 1319, the stone stoup from the 3rd quarter of the 13th century and the Gothic baptismal font from the 14th century.

 The chancel features a Baroque main altarpiece from 1708-1710, created by Maciej Rodte, a woodcarver, choir stalls in the Late Renaissance style from the 1st half of the 17th century and a rood beam with a Baroque Crucifixion ensemble from 1710, crafted in the workshop of Maciej Rodte and his disciples.

In the nave body, there is a Baroque pipe organ casing from 1690, a Rococo pulpit from the 4th quarter of the 18th century, a chandelier in the Renaissance style hanging in the middle of the nave. In the northern and southern aisles, there are side altarpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries. The northern chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows features a Baroque altarpiece from the late 17th century with a painted pietà in the late Renaissance style from the 1st half of the 17th century. In the chapel of Corpus Christi, there is a Baroque altarpiece from 1685-1695.

The monument is open to visitors.

Prepared by Marzenna Stocka, National Heritage Board of Poland, Regional Branch in Toruń 25-02-2016

Bibliography

  • Chrzanowski T., Kornecki M., Chełmno, 1991, pp. 69-118
  • Diecezja toruńska. Historia i teraźniejszość, Stanisław Kardasz (ed.), Vol. 4, Dekanat chełmiński, Toruń 1996, pp. 38-65
  • Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Vol. XI: Województwo bydgoskie, issue 4: Powiat chełmiński, Tadeusz Chrzanowski and Marian Kornecki (eds.), Warszawa 1976, pp. 7-26

Category: church

Architecture: nieznana

Building material:  brick

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_04_BK.118491, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_04_BK.222891