The Bernardine Monastery Complex in Leżajsk is a 17th century monastery in
Leżajsk
Leżajsk (; ; ), officially the Free Royal City of Leżajsk (), is a town in southeastern Poland with 13,871 inhabitants. Since 1999, it has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and is the capital of Leżajsk County.
Leżajsk is famed f ...
,
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 ...
. The complex features a
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
and monastic residence. It is listed as a
Historic Monument of Poland.
History
According to legend, the complex lies on the site where a villager had a
vision of Mary.
The villager, Tomasz Michałek, was collecting wood in the forest when Mary appeared in a bright light and instructed him to erect a church on the site. He returned to the village to communicate the vision to the local authorities.
[''The Pilgrim of Our Lady of Martyrs''. (1894). Vol. 10. United States: N. Y. Catholic Protectory for St. Joseph's Church, Troy, N.Y. p. 74-75 – via ]Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
.
File:Bazylika Zwiastowania NMP - Leżajsk.jpg, An interior altar
The first sacral structure on the site was a wooden church constructed in 1592 for St. Ann, but this church could not contain the capacity of visitors that came to the site.
and Bishop
Maciej Pstrokoński brought monks to the site in 1608 to establish the monastery.
[Kaczorowski, B. (1998). ''The monuments of Polish architecture''. Poland: WSiP. p. 174. .] King
Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632
N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Relig ...
also provided assistance with the foundation.
The Basilica of the Assumption was then built between 1618 and 1628 to the designs of Antonio Pallacini.
[Turp, C. (2010). ''DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Poland''. United Kingdom: DK Publishing. p. 171. .]
Architecture
The complex is surrounded by a defensive wall. The church interior features
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 ...
and
Rococo
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
elements. Travel writers indicate that the
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
is one of the finest in Poland. The organ was constructed over the course of five years.
[Bajcar, A. (1972). ''Poland: A Guidebook for Tourists''. Poland: Interpress Publishers. p. 116 – via ]Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
.
See also
*
Bernardine Monastery Complex, a monastery in Radom
*
Baroque in Poland
The Polish Baroque lasted from the early 17th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance styl ...
*
The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland
The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland (; also translated as Our Lady, Queen of Poland or Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland) is an honorary title for Mary, mother of Jesus, used by Polish Catholics.
The Catholic Church in Poland is sin ...
References
{{reflist
Leżajsk County
Religious buildings and structures in Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Objects of cultural heritage in Poland
Christian monasteries in Poland
Christian monasteries established in the 17th century
17th-century religious buildings and structures in Europe
17th-century establishments in Poland