History

The beginnings of the Dominican Order in Warsaw date back to 1603. In that year Father Abraham Bzowski arrived in Warsaw together with eleven brethren. The brick temple was built in the years 1604-1639. The front façade was most likely designed by Giovanni Trevano. Due to the plagues that interrupted the works, the construction of the brick church was prolonged. The monastery was erected in the years 1639-1650. After the completion of the construction Poland was invaded by the Swedes. They entered Warsaw, took over the church and the monastery and used them as a garrison. The townspeople signed the act of capitulation in the grand refectory. The buildings were renovated after the Deluge. The church was re-consecrated in 1661. In 1690 Adam Kotowski funded a tomb chapel for his family according to the design by Tylman van Gameren. The 18th century was a period of glory for the church and the monastery. A bell tower was built next to the church in 1717. In 1750 the fire destroyed the bell tower, which was rebuilt around 1760. During the march of the Napoleon troops in 1806, the soldiers were accommodated in the monastery and a hospital and a military equipment warehouse were arranged. After 1815 a major renovation of the church rook place. In the years 1823-1825, at the initiative of prior Damian Dzieszkowski, a Gothic Revival, arcaded gallery was erected in front of the main façade, according to Hilary Szpilowski’s design. It housed shops and residential apartments. It was related to a ban on trading outside stalls, imposed on tradespeople by the municipal authorities. In 1864, as part of repressions following the January Uprising, the order was dissolved and several years later an orphanage for boys and a male school with a dormitory were arranged in the monastery. The latter functioned until 1944. During the Warsaw Uprising a hospital was established in the monastery. Around 1000 persons died in the rubble - patients of the hospital and residents of Warsaw who sought shelter in the church. In 1947 the Dominicans returned to Freta street. They started rebuilding the church according to Halina Kosmólska’s design. The reconstruction was completed in 1962. The lavish interior and the 19th century arcades were not reproduced. The monastery was rebuilt in the years 1947-1965 according to the design by Bruno Zborowski.

Description

The monastery complex of the Dominicans is located just behind the former Old Town walls, on the outskirts of the former New Town. The monastery building adjoins to the church, facing Freta street with its front façade, on the north-east side. The temple was erected on the edge of the escarpment sloping towards the Vistula river. The interior required lowering, that is why two flights of stairs lead to it - from the street and from the church vestibule. There is a belfry on the west side, at the level of the south nave.

The church was erected on a rectangular floor plan, with a three-nave basilica layout. It is a brick building, its walls covered with plaster. The front façade has two storeys, three axes and is partitioned by pairs of pilasters and preceded by a porch. The finial features a triangular gable adorned with figures of the Mother of God, St Jack and St Dominic. The storeys are separated from each other by a profiled cornice, on the extremities of which parapets with pairs of pylons are added on both sides of the front façade. The side façades are crowned with profiled cornices. The rear walls of the chancel are reinforced with buttresses. The presbytery is lower than the nave and was buttressed. The church finial includes a steeple crowned with a crucifix; an octagonal cupola with a lantern rises above the Kotowski family chapel.

In the interior, the main nave links with the side naves through semi-circular arcades resting on pilastered pillars. The naves are covered with barrel and ribbed vaults on arches: with ribs in the main nave and with stuccowork in the side naves. The fixtures and fittings include objects that survived and were found in the debris or originate from other churches, mainly from the former Eastern Borderlands. The main altar features a crucifix with sculptures presenting Mother Mary and St John as well as “St Jack” and “St Dominic” paintings. At the chancel, on the extension of the northern nave, there is a two-storey annex hosting on its ground floor a square chapel of the Holy Cross, referred to as the Dark Chapel and a rectangular sacristy. A choir gallery is located on the first floor. On the extension of the left nave there is a chapel of Our Lady of Fatima (formerly Our Lady of the Rosary or Salus Populi Romani). The Kotowski family chapel (of St Dominic) is added to the western bay of the northern nave. It was designed by Tylman van Gameren and erected by Józef Szymon Bellotti. It was designed on a square floor plan and has two levels. At the entrance to the chapel there is a portal with pilasters made of Dębnik marble, supporting the tympanum where a cartouche with a variation of the coat of arms Kot Morski [the Marine Cat] is located, supported by two cupids. The interior décor includes sculpted stucco decoration. After the reconstruction of the church, a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary, famous for its numerous graces, and an “Ecce Homo” sculpture from the church of the Dominicans in Lvov, authored by Antoni Osiński, were placed in the Kotowski family chapel. Moreover, valuable tombstones have survived: a Mannerist one of Katarzyna Ossolińska (1607), of Anna Tarnowska nee Dobrzykowska (1616), a Baroque epitaph plaque of Regina Sroczyńska (1689) and an epitaph plaque in the Old Armenian language of Jakub and Marianna Minasowicz, made of bronze (late 17th century).

The monastery, erected on the T-shaped floor plan, consists of an elongated body terminating in a transverse wing parallel to Stara street. On the south side, at the intersection of the arms, there is a rectangular garth terminating in a brick retaining wall.

Next to the church, there is a two-storey, square bell tower with a stone portal, adjacent to the neighbouring tenement house. It is crowned with a lantern over which rises a conical cupola.

The historic building is accessible to visitors; sightseeing during church services is forbidden.

Author of the note Bartłomiej Modrzewski 19 October 2017

Bibliography

• Bartoszewicz J., Kościoły warszawskie rzymsko-katolickie opisane pod względem historycznym, Warsaw 1855, reprint: Szczecin 2012.
• Historia klasztoru, Official service of the Monastery of the Dominican Order in Freta street, https://freta.dominikanie.pl/klasztor/historia-klasztoru/, accessed: 19 October 2017.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, vol. XI, Miasto Warszawa, ed. J. Z. Łoziński, A. Rottermund, part 2., Nowe Miasto, collective study, Warsaw 2001.
• Siwek A., Klasztor O.O. Dominikanów [the so-called white record sheet], 2009.
• Siwek A., Kościół Klasztorny O.O. Dominikanów p.w. Św. Jacka [the so-called white record sheet], 2009.
• Żabicki J., Leksykon zabytków architektury Mazowsza i Podlasia, Warsaw 2010;