St. Joseph's Church ( pl, Kościół św. Józefa) is a historic Catholic church in the Podgórze district of Kraków, Poland. It is located on

Podgórski Square Podgórski is a Polish surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Podgórski sisters, Stephania and Helena * Anthony Podgorski (1903-1987), American businessman and politician *Pete Podgorski Pete Podgorski (born December 1953) is a for ...

on the northern slopes of the

Krzemionki foothills Krzemionki, also Krzemionki Opatowskie (, "Opatów silica-mine"), is a Neolithic and early Bronze Age complex of flint mines for the extraction of Upper Jurassic ( Oxfordian) banded flints located about eight kilometers north-east of the Polish c ...

in the south-central part of the city.

History

The church was built between 1905 and 1909, and designed by Jan Sas Zubrzycki in th
Gothic Revival
style. It is the largest church in the area. The interior of the church is shaped in the likeness of a Gothic cathedral in the so-called Gothic Vistula (

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

) style. It is filled with numerous altars, benches and other items made mostly of wood. Work on the fittings lasted for years. In the postwar period, the locations of some of the altars and pulpits were changed, as well as a bricked arcade between an ambulatory and the former chapel of the Sacred Heart (now Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Eternal Adoration). The altars created first were the main chapel (in the sanctuary) and the Annunciation (formerly in the right arm of the transept). Work on them was from 1908 to 1909. The main altar originally consisted of the tabernacle and statues of

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

. In main altar in the west (right) arm of the transept stands the altar of the Annunciation. There are 5 other main altars.

Restoration

In 1999, the local parish priest, Franciszek Kołacz, decided the church needed restoration. The main altar, side altars, pulpit and organ were renovated. It was also restored to its original colour, which was lost during renovations at the time of pastor Franciszek Mirek, when the colour was changed to red-blue which severely affected the appearance of the church. Today the church has a white-gray colour which has restored it to its former character.

External links

* http://jozef.diecezja.pl/ (official site in Polish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Church, Podgorze Joseph Roman Catholic churches completed in 1909 1909 establishments in Poland 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland Gothic Revival church buildings in Poland