Kościół na Skałce
Churches of Kraków
Minor basilica (Roman Catholic), Stare Miasto district. Date according to Wikidata: 1751. The title of minor basilica is granted to churches by the Pope. A listed monument (heritage register). Run by: Zakon Świętego Pawła Pierwszego Pustelnika.
History
Skałka is a small hill of white Jurassic limestone on the bank of the Vistula, not far from Wawel Hill. Tradition identifies it as the place where St Stanislaus, Bishop of Kraków, was martyred, and today the church also serves as a National Pantheon. The chronicles give different accounts of the bishop's conflict with King Bolesław the Bold. Gallus Anonymus writes that in 1079 Stanislaus was sentenced for treason to have his limbs cut off and died, which was supposed to have happened at Wawel. According to Wincenty Kadłubek, the king killed the bishop with his own hands, in the church at Skałka, during Mass; this version, however, is considered unreliable. In 1253 Stanislaus was canonised, and Skałka became a place of pilgrimage.
According to tradition, a pagan temple once stood here, followed by a Romanesque church of St Michael the Archangel. A Gothic building was erected in the 14th century by Kazimierz the Great. In the 15th century the church was entrusted to the Pauline Fathers, brought to Kraków by Jan Długosz, and they remain here to this day. The Baroque church we see today was built in 1733-1751. The original plan was drawn up by Antoni Müntzer, but after a few years Antonio Solari redesigned the façade and the interior. At its consecration the new church received a double dedication, to St Michael the Archangel and St Stanislaus the Bishop. The steps in front of the entrance are engraved with the names of the donors who made the 1888-1899 renovation possible.
In the crypt, to a design by Teofil Żebrawski, the Crypt of the Distinguished was created in 1876-1880. Eminent figures of Polish culture are buried there, among them Henryk Siemiradzki, Stanisław Wyspiański, Jacek Malczewski, Karol Szymanowski and Czesław Miłosz. John Paul II visited Skałka in 1979: here he met Kraków intellectuals and talked with young people.
Did you know?
A little to the north of the church entrance lies a pool named after St Stanislaus, described as the Holy Water Font of Poland. According to legend, it was here that the bishop's dismembered body was thrown just after he was killed, and eagles watched over it. The stone sculptures of these birds were replaced with metal casts when the pool was renovated in 1895-1896.