Bazylika Najświętszego Serca Pana Jezusa
Churches of Kraków
Minor basilica (Roman Catholic), Grzegórzki district. Date according to Wikidata: 1921. Architect: Franciszek Mączyński. The title of minor basilica is granted to churches by the Pope. A listed monument (heritage register).
History
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Jesuit church in Wesoła, in the Grzegórzki district, at 26 Kopernika Street. The Jesuits settled here in 1868, and two years later the first chapel was built, consecrated on 28 August 1870. It served the faithful for 42 years but soon proved too small, so in 1903 it was decided to build an impressive church. The design by the architect Franciszek Mączyński was chosen, and the foundation stone was blessed on 1 November 1909 by Bishop Anatol Nowak. The walls were up by 1912, but furnishing and decorating the interior dragged on because of the war. The consecration only took place on 29 May 1921.
The church is an outstanding example of Young Poland architecture and is regarded as one of the leading Polish works of sacred art of the first quarter of the 20th century. The architect drew on Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque models. The walls are of red brick, and the windows are framed in grey stone. The 68-metre tower is one of the tallest in Kraków. Above the entrance portal you can see the mosaic The Piercing of Christ's Side, designed by Jan Bukowski, and sculptures designed by Xawery Dunikowski. The vaults of the three-aisled interior were the first in the city to be made of reinforced concrete.
Inside, the eye is drawn to the 30-metre mosaic frieze in the chancel, designed in 1913 by Piotr Stachiewicz and made by the Angelo Gianese workshop in Venice. It shows Polish saints and blesseds, led by St Stanislaus, paying homage to Christ, as well as the nation being led to Jesus by Queen Jadwiga and King Władysław Jagiełło. The stucco sculptures in the side altars are by Karol Hukan. Among them, the altar of Our Lady of the Angels stands out: Mary as a crowned queen, adored by eight angels. Art historians consider it one of the most valuable Polish religious works of the interwar years.
Pope John XXIII granted the church the status of minor basilica in 1960. In the same year a chapel of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was created, blessed by Bishop Karol Wojtyła.
Did you know?
Behind the church's apse stands a monument to its architect, Franciszek Mączyński, made in 1912 by Xawery Dunikowski. The bronze half-figure holds a model of the church in its right hand, and the cast was given to the Jesuits in 1953 by the architect's widow.