The Church of St. Florian () is a historic church in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, located at 2 Kurniki Street. It stands at the northern end of

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

Square and the former centre of the

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

city of Kleparz, now part of the district Old Town. The edifice marks the beginning of the Royal Road.

History

St. Florian's Church was built between 1185 and 1216. It was burnt down many times in the 12th, 16th and 17th centuries. Notably, during the Swedish siege of Kraków, General

Stefan Czarniecki Stefan Czarniecki (Polish: of the Łodzia coat of arms, 1599 – 16 February 1665) was a Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish szlachta, nobleman, general and military commander. In his career, he rose from a petty nobleman to a magnate hol ...

ordered the city's suburbs burned down. However, during the citywide fire which consumed a considerable part of Kraków in 1528, the church – containing St. Florian's relics – survived. Since then St. Florian, usually portrayed as a

Roman legion The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...

officer carrying water, has been revered in Poland as

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of firefighters and chimneysweeps. The church's present appearance is the result of a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

renovation after the

Polish–Swedish wars This is a List of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

. Since the 16th century the Church has been the University Collegiate. The coronation route began there, with the rector of the university senate welcoming new kings. The Church was also the starting point for royal funeral processions to

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral (), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Saint Stanislaus and St. Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus, () is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it ...

. In 1667 the remains of Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, wife of King John II Casimir, were placed there temporarily, and so were the remains of

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...

in 1818. From 17 September 1949 to September 1951, Father Karol Wojtyła, who later became Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, worked there as a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

. As Pope, in 1999 he elevated the Church to a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

. He also visited the Church on his papal pilgrimage to Poland on 18 September 2002.Traces of Pope John Paul II: St. Florian's Church, at toptravelservice.pl
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The legend

Legend has it that in 1184

oxen An ox (: oxen), also known as a bullock (in BrE, British, AusE, Australian, and IndE, Indian English), is a large bovine, trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castration, castrated adult male cattle, because castration i ...

carrying the remains of St. Florian – the future patron saint of Poland – the relics miraculously grew too heavy to be taken any further into the city and remained in Kleparz until it was decided for the Church to be built at that exact spot. Guide to Krakow webpage at www.kasprzyk.demon.co.uk
/ref> The martyr had nothing do with Poland before his relics were brought from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to Kraków. Kraków needed a saint for political reasons, in order to reaffirm its role as Poland's capital, which was contested by the city of

Gniezno Gniezno (; ; ) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County (''powiat'') ...

. The district of Kleparz was founded by Casimir the Great in 1366 as a separate town, around St. Florian's Church. It was named by King Casimir as Florencja () after its centrally located church, or in Latin, Clepardia. Kleparz remained an unofficial suburb of Kraków till 1792, when the

Polish Parliament The parliament of Poland is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate of Poland, Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the Sejm and Senate Complex of Poland, S ...

incorporated it within the city. File:Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Grunwald Monument and church of St. Florian, Matejko Square, Kraków, Poland.jpg, Matejko Square. From left to right, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Grunwald Monument, and (in background) St. Florian's Church File:Church of St Florian (interior), 1 Warszawska street, Krakow, Poland.jpg, Church interior. File:Kościół św. Floriana w Krakowie 03.jpg, Figure of St. Florian on the church facade. File:Church of St. Florian, Golgotha-1905 by Aleksander Józef Veith, 2 Kurniki Street, Kraków, Poland.jpg, Golgotha, outer wall of the presbytery, designed by Aleksander Józef Veith (1905).

References

St. Florian's Church at travel.yahoo.comSt. Florian's Church at krakow4u.plStory of St. Florian's relics (Polish language only)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Florian's Church Florian's Florian Baroque architecture in Kraków Baroque church buildings in Poland

History

The legend

See also

References