The Church of Sts. Dorothea, Wenceslaus, and Stanislaus, ( pl, Kościół św. Stanisława, św. Doroty i św. Wacława, german: St. Dorotheenkirche), is a

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the southern part

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

's Old Town.

History

The church was founded to commemorate the signing of a treaty between Casimir III the Great of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...

. The patrons of the church, Sts.

Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia Wenceslaus I ( cs, Václav ; c. 907 – 28 September 935 or 929), Wenceslas I or ''Václav the Good'' was the Duke ('' kníže'') of Bohemia from 921 until his death, probably in 935. According to the legend, he was assassinated by his younger ...

Stanislaus Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, and Dorothea represented

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, and

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

: the coat of arms of the three realms were placed under the windows on the outside of the apse. The church was built under the supervision of the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

hermits on a plot of land purchased by the burghers Job Stille and Jakob Reymfried. The church was built in 1351 as a three-nave, high hall with a pentagonal chancel and apse covered with a cross vault. The chancel was completed in 1381, and the apse and nave in 1401. In 1350 the church was taken over by the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

order expelled from the Church of St. Vincent. However, the number of brothers continued to dwindle rapidly due to the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and already by 20 October 1534 they had left the building. It was not until October 15, 1561 that Emperor Ferdinand I allowed the deconsecration of the building and their temporary use for storage. Subsequent plains to bring in the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

were unsuccessful, and in 1613 Emperor

Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. People Notable people named Matthias include the following: In religion: * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot * ...

returned the building to the Franciscan Order, who took over the buildings on February 6, 1615. In 1686, the interior was rebuilt in an ornate Baroque style, as was the monastery building. In 1707 the church was made a parish church. After the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n secularization order of 1810, the monastery buildings were used as a jail from 1817, and then after 1852 was used by the court. It entered a long decay, until the end of the 19th century it was decided to demolish then and the land was sold. On the site of the monastery was built a department store and the Hotel Monopol. In front of the western façade of a church was built a new entrance with a Gothic portal and a small square. During the

Siege of Breslau The siege of Breslau, also known as the Battle of Breslau, was a three-month-long siege of the city of Wrocław, Breslau in Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), lasting to the end of World War II in Europe. From 13 Feb ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the church sustained only minor damage, and as a result it was one of the best preserved medieval buildings in Wrocław. After the war, it was for a time used as the city's procathedral.

Gallery

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of St. Dorothea (Wroclaw) Churches in Wrocław Gothic architecture in Poland