Tourist routes in Cracow: Churches and cathedrals
Klasztor Kapucynów / Wikimedia / CC / RJ 1979
Capuchin Church
In the vicinity of the medieval university buildings and Plant are located the monastery buildings of the Capuchin Order of the Province of Krakow, shrine and Holy House of Loreto. The monks settled on Polish territory in 1681, thanks to the efforts of King Jan Sobieski III, and founded two monasteries: one in Krakow and the other in Warsaw. Crown court marshal Hieronim August Lubomirski along with his sister, Lady Krystyna Potocka founded the Krakow one. The monastery took nearly four years to build from 1696 to 1699. The first Mass was celebrated on August 15, 1700, but the consecration of the church took place on May 13, 1703. The church was built in Tuscan Baroque style. It has a nave, with two side chapels. Next to the main altar, between the chancel and nave, were built two symmetrical side altars. At the main altar the monastic choir was situated. The interior is surprisingly modest, with smooth walls and a barrel vault with small windows. On the main altar is placed a picture of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, painted by Piotr Dandiniego in around 1701, which is a copy of the image from the Servite church in Florence. On the north wall of the nave is the black marble sarcophagus of the special benefactor of the order, the Auschwitz and Zator standard-bearer Wojciech Dembinski (1657-1720). He was buried in a Capuchin habit. All of the furnishings in the church are wooden. The pulpit has a characteristic representation of the Capuchin churches, depicting a hand with a cross. It is a remnant of closely guarded tradition, and serves to preach the sermon, "not from books but from the heart and memory".