The materials used permitted a bold design of the body, which dominates the cityline of this part of Podgórze. The value of the church and its post-modern décor still seem to be underestimated, although there are only few such temples in Kraków.

History

In the Middle Ages, the hamlet of Borek [today Borek Fałęcki] was the property of the Cathedral Chapter from Wawel. The present-day manor and park complex overlaps with the area of the former chapter-owned grange. Under the Austrian rule, at the end of the 18th century, Borek, as a public property administered by the Religious Fund, was put up for an auction. It bordered directly on Podgórze. After 1797 the manor complex area (dominion) was bought by Konstancja Zuzanna née Falęska (Falęcka) of the Korab coat of arms, the wife of Piotr Gniazdowski. Their son, Marcin, was married to Zofia Piechowska. The locality gained a new name element – Borek Fałęcki, and the references to the cathedral chapter went out of use. On the site of the former grange and house, a manor complex was established. Ca. 1845 a wooden manor house was erected, which existed until the 1960s. It was owned by the Mierzejewski family. In 1846, during the so-called Kraków Revolution, patriotic activists operated from Borek.

Description

The church design is regarded as an example of pre-WW2 constructivism. Its representatives openly manifested the significance of the structure and construction of the building. The reinforced concrete and brick temple was designed by Tadeusz Ruthie (he was behind the design of the Coventry cathedral destroyed by German bombs). Construction began in 1937 supervised by Tadeusz Gliński; the core and shell were ready within two years. The building was erected on Góra Borkowska, in an industrial district, in the vicinity of the long-gone Solvay Soda Plant. The modern designs of temples were intended to attract workers to worship, and the high tower was to compete with the stacks of nearby factories. The church was built of reinforced concrete. It makes the building frame while determining its aesthetic ambiance. The temple has one central nave and two side aisles reduced to narrow passages. During World War II, the Germans used the site as a storage. The construction was completed in 1947. The main altar, designed by Jan Budziła and made by Antoni Oramus in 1978, features a statue of the Mother of God by Konstanty Laszczka from 1916; it was a gift from Archbishop of Kraków Adam Sapieha. The chancel and the nave are adorned with stained glass designed by Wacław Taranczewski (1903–1987) and manufactured in the studio of Krzysztof Paczka-Andrzej Cwilewicz in Podgórze in the 1960s. The most interesting stained-glass window is the one filling the large rosette in the church façade. Most of them are abstract compositions in the spirit of op-art. A technological peculiarity is the stained glass technique used: the glass is framed directly into concrete. A soaring, campanile-like tower adjoins the façade. The openwork top, consisting of eight frames making up a cross, is closed by a reinforced concrete cross.

Services: Saturdays 6:00 p.m., Sundays and feasts: 7:00, 8:00 a.m. (Chapel of St Teresa), 9:00, 10:30, 11:00 a.m. (Chapel of St Teresa), 12:00, 6:00 p.m.

Author of the note Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 20/03/2015

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