Church of St. Giles () is a Roman Catholic church of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

located on 67 Grodzka Street 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. Its history dates to 11th century; it has been rebuilt many times since.

History

The original Church of St. Giles was constructed on the orders of the

Duke of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

Władysław I Herman Władysław I Herman ( 1044 – 4 June 1102) was the duke of Poland from 1079 until his death. Accession Władysław was the second son of the Polish duke Casimir the Restorer and Maria Dobroniega of Kiev. As the second son, Władysław was not ...

in the 11th century. It was done as a result of his wife

Judith of Bohemia Judith of Bohemia ( 1056/58 – 25 December 1086), also known as Judith Přemyslid, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty and duchess of Poland by marriage. She was a daughter of Duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia and Adelaide of Hungary, and was ma ...

giving birth to a son, which was attributed to the intercession of

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

. The current church building was reconstructed in the 14th century and later remodelled in 1595 when it was handed over to the

. By the start of the 20th century, a number of ancillary buildings had been constructed around the church. In 1905, the Krakow City Council passed an ordinance authorising the demolition of these buildings. This was objected to by heritage groups and Count Mycielski, who allegedly utilised his friendship with Archduke

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fran ...

, which resulted in the ordinance being withdrawn but demolitions still occurred leaving only three 18th century houses. These houses were subsequently demolished by the Nazi

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

during the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. In 1990, following the

fall of Communism in Poland Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

, a memorial called the Katyń Cross was erected outside the church in memory of the Polish

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

victims of the Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

secret police in 1940, during the Soviet repression of Polish citizens during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This is the only Roman Catholic church in Krakow with Mass in English every Sunday.

Interior

Inside the church is an

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

painting of St Giles that was formerly considered miraculous and until the early 20th century, was an area where pilgrims would place gifts to commemorate miraculous healing through St Giles' intercession. The choir stalls were originally installed in the Basilica of the Holy Trinity but moved to St Giles' Church in 1629. The altar dates from the early 17th century and a number of mediaeval wood icons are on display. File:Church of St Giles (interior), 67 Grodzka street, Old Town, Krakow, Poland.jpg, Interior

References

External links

*
Church homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of Saint Giles, Krakow 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland Giles