History of the site

The theatre building was erected in the years 1890-1893 on the site of the former monastery, church and hospital complex of the Order of the Holy Ghost. The decision to build a city theatre was preceded by the 1877 city council’s concept of improvements in the urban tissue and heated discussions in the press at the time. The location was determined by the architect Karol Zaremba based on the assessment of the value of potential construction sites. In principle, the theatre was to be located within the Planty Park area. Location in Plac Św. Ducha required the demolition of the old monastery and hospital complex (funded by Bishop Prandota in 1244), which, together with the gardens, occupied an area of 8,000 m2. Jan Zawiejski was the author of the winning design selected in a competition in 1888.

The structure was made by the Viennese company of Ignacy Gridel. The interior design was done by Zawiejski. The stucco and painting decorations were made by Antoni Tuch. The stage, including technical solutions: trapdoors, machines imitating natural phenomena, set changing system, iron fire and smoke barrier, etc. were installed according to the design by Zygmunt Wagner. The theatre was the first building in Kraków to have electric lighting supplied by its own power plant and the central heating system installed by Wilhelm Brückner’s company.

Description of the site

The theatre is located in Plac Św. Ducha on the boundary of Planty Park. The facade faces ul. Szpitalna. The longitudinal axis is perpendicular to the street frontage.

The building has a plan of an elongated rectangle. It is maintained in an eclectic style with dominating neo-Baroque elements; partly modelled on Opéra Garnier in Paris.

The body is divided into three clearly separated sections with the corresponding interior layout. From the front, at the ground floor level, there is a centrally located, rectangular vestibule accessed by three main and two side entrances. The vestibule is separated by atlas and caryatid pillars supporting the ceiling. The vestibule enables circulation across all the theatre storeys. An elegant staircase in the middle, corridors on the sides surrounding the ground floor of the auditorium. On the shorter sides of the vestibule, there are two entrances to the side staircases of the second and third floor. The main single-flight staircase reaches to the height of the mezzanine; it is two-flight at the height of the first floor. It branches into corridors leading to the boxes. On the first floor, a foyer above the vestibule. In the central section of the building, there is a horseshoe-shaped auditorium, surrounded by four levels of boxes and balconies of various depths. In the rear section, on the ground floor, there is the stage, wardrobes, and technical rooms.

The body of the theatre consists of three parts of different height: the front part with the representative façade, the middle part covered with a dome, and the rear, slightly higher part. The building is a monumental, free-standing, richly ornamented edifice.

The front façade has the form of a stylised, classicist portico with rounded corners. It has a five-axis, symmetrical, two-storey design. The middle section is withdrawn, flanked in the corners by extensive avant-corpses. Horizontal divisions are articulated by means of prominent, profiled cornices at the level of the ground floor and the first floor. The whole structure is topped with entablature and an attic transforming into balustrades with stone balusters above the avant-corpses. The ground floor is horizontally rusticated. Vertical divisions at the ground floor level are highlighted with rusticated pillars; between them, arcaded entrances. In the axes of the first floor, Corinthian columns and arcaded porte-fenetre windows closed in a semicircle. In the extreme axes, Ionic columns connected at the height of the cornice above the ground floor by a stone balustrade. In the front part of the avant-corpses, there are small, almost square window openings. On the first floor, rectangular, vertical windows flanked by Corinthian columns. Above and within the axis, there are oculi. The avant-corpses are covered by domes and their façade has rich sculptural decorations, thematically alluding to the function of the building. At the height of the attic, allegories of Joy and Sorrow, above entablature, sculptural groups forming a kind of tympanum with the personifications of Poetry, Drama, Comedy (on the left) and Music, Opera and Operetta (on the right). In the attic fields, red marble slabs with the inscription “Kraków Narodowej Sztuce.” Symmetrical, four-storey side elevations with different heights of the ground floor and individual floors; four avant-corpses on each side. Entrances and staircases within the avant-corpses. Individual parts of the building connected by cornices across the side façades. The ground floor is separated by horizontal rustication. In the central part, at the level of the first floor, there are terraces with low stone balustrades. Decorative, wrought iron candelabra for gas lighting installed on the balustrades. The terraces are connected by a high porte-fenetre with corridors running through two storeys. In the middle section, a dome on a drum. The drum with punched windows, surrounded by an attic resembling the one of the Cloth Hall. The attic is divided by pillars connected by a volute cresting. Mascarons on the pillars. The rear elevation has seven axes and four levels. The individual levels vary in height; articulated by cornices. The ground floor has rustication. The window openings are of various shapes. Gable roof with decorative pinnacles.

Entry with performance admission. Possible paid, guided group tour of the site.

Author of the note Grzegorz Młynarczyk, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 04-2015

Bibliography

• Nowacki K., O budowie teatru miejskiego w Krakowie, Kraków 1975
• Nowacki K., Architektura krakowskich teatrów, Dzieje teatru w Krakowie, Kraków 1982
• Lemański L., dzieje dwóch konkursów na projekt nowego teatru w Krakowie, Kwartalnik Architektura i Urbanistyka, XXIV, R.1979 no.3
• Purchla J., Teatr i jego architekt, Kraków 2002
• Purchla J., Jan Zawiejski architekt przełomu XIX i XXw. Warszawa 1986