The then existing castle chapel on Lech Hill in Gniezno, connected with the ducal palas, was rebuilt in the second half of the 12th century into a Romanesque church of St. George. Rebuilt in the years 1615 - 32 after a fire in 1613, it was restored in 1782 in the late Baroque style according to the design of the architect Bernard Landwerber from Poznań. The monument is located by the Gniezno Cathedral which, together with its immediate surroundings within the Lech Hill, has been recognized as a European Heritage Monument since 2007 and as a Monument of History since 1994.

History of the structure

The first source reference comes from the 2nd half of the 12th century. An earlier oral tradition written down in the chronicle of Gall Anonim dates back to the 9th century. Archaeological findings indicate that it is likely that a castle existed there as early as the 8th century. Gniezno was the seat of the first Piast dynasty and its oldest part, Lech Hill, was called the Royal Hill. The castle in the 9th and 10th centuries, fortified with massive ramparts of a wooden-earth construction, consisted of the duke’s palas and the castle chapel, the settlement with the cathedral, two defensive parts situated south of the settlement, and several open settlements. After a fire in 1192, which occurred during Casimir the Just’s expedition to Gniezno, the castle chapel was rebuilt into a Romanesque church of St. George. From the 13th century until 1815 the church had the rank of a collegiate church. Partially burnt down in 1613, it was rebuilt in 1615-32, and in 1782 reconstructed in the late Baroque style thanks to the efforts of canon Baltazar Pstrokoński, according to the design of architect Bernard Landwerber from Poznań. Refurbished in 1936, it underwent another renovation in 1990, when the church was painted, the floor laid and necessary repairs made.   

Archaeological research conducted in 1926-32 by Bishop A. Laubitz and in 1986-89, 1995 and 1999 by the Polish State Museum in Gniezno uncovered the original outline of the church. Under the polygonal chancel, horseshoe-shaped foundations made of fieldstones of various sizes on a clay mortar were discovered. An excavation inside the temple uncovered two older utility levels with burials beneath them. The wall pillars were built of brick during the construction of the vault in the 17th century. Under the south-west corner a circular stone foundation with a diameter of about 3.7m was discovered, made of six layers of fieldstones and placed at a depth of 0.9m. Probably there was a turret with a staircase to the gallery, which was demolished when the church was expanded. A similar foundation was exposed in the northwest corner at a depth of 0.8 m with a diameter of up to 3 meters. Next to the church a stone construction (barrow?), dating back to the tribal times from 8th/9th to the middle of the 10th century was discovered.

Description of the structure

Gniezno, the seat of Gniezno District, is situated in the eastern part of Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, within the macro-region called the Gniezno Lake District. The Church of St. George is located on Lech Hill on the north side of the cathedral, on the site of the former castle.

The church is oriented, single-nave, three-bay, with a narrower and lower polygonally closed, later rebuilt single-span chancel. The chancel is covered with a multi-slope roof, the nave with a gable roof covered with tiles.

The building is made of stone blocks supplemented in the upper parts with bricks. The stone blocks are exposed and the brick walls are plastered. The temple rests on older foundations made of field stones and partly of split stone - relics of a castle chapel from the second half of the 10th century. The corners of the building are reinforced with buttresses. The western late Baroque elevation from 1782 was embellished with two corner buttresses topped with pinnacles in the form of obelisks. The church’s gable with volutes, fragmented with string courses and an avant-corps in the axis, was accented with a Baroque portal. The portal is closed with a segmental arch with a pair of pillars, above which there is a semicircular niche with the sculpture of St. George on a horse. The sculpture was made by Marcin Rożek in 1936. The semicircular window openings are preserved in their original profiled frames. The bricked up entrances, in the southern and northern walls with a portal closed with an ogee arch and the interior decoration of the church are the result of subsequent reconstructions and renovations. The interior of the church is covered with a sail vault on the arches, flowing down to the fragmented engaged columns framed with pilasters. The rood arch is semicircular, the choir is supported by three arcades.  

The furnishings of the church include three altars from 1782 with contemporary paintings: in the main altar a paining of St. George, in the left altar the painting of the Holy Family and the Beheading of St. John, in the right altar - the Resurrection of Piotrowin and the Beheading of St. Barbara.  

Visitor access. The site can be accessed from the outside. Visiting the church inside is possible by prior telephone arrangement. More information, including the Holy Mass schedule, is available on the website.

Compiled by: Radomiła Banach, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 20.12.2017

Bibliography

• Encyklopedia Gniezna i Ziemi Gnieźnieńskiej, TMG 2011
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Vol. V, z. 3: powiat gnieźnieński, Warsaw 1963, pp. 58-59
• Badania przy kościele św. Jerzego w Gnieźnie, T. Sawicki, Gniezno 2001, p. 177
• Gniezno w świetle ostatnich badań archeologicznych – Nowe fakty. Nowe interpretacje, ed. Z. Kurnatowska, WPTPN, Poznań 2001, Tomasz Sawicki, Badania przy kościele św. Jerzego w Gnieźnie, pp. 163-185
• Gniezno pierwsza stolica Polski, exhibition catalogue, Gniezno 1995