Kościół pw. Świętego Grzegorza Wielkiego Papieża
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Nowa Huta district. A listed monument (heritage register).
History
The Church of St Gregory the Great stands in Ruszcza, now part of Nowa Huta, on Jeziorko Street. The first, Romanesque church is attributed to Jaksa Gryfita, and the earliest mention of this foundation dates from 1222. The present Gothic building was funded by Wierzbięta of Branice, steward of Kraków; it was built in 1416-1420. From 1417 until the mid-18th century it served as a collegiate church.
The brick walls, decorated in places with a pattern of clinker bricks, give the church a fortified character. The chancel has two bays and a rib vault. On the east side, where there used to be a Garden of Gethsemane scene and the Badeni family burial chapel, a new sacristy in the form of a rotunda was built in 1925 to a design by Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz. By the north wall, in the former churchyard, is the tomb of the Popiel family, the last owners of Ruszcza, and by the south wall the tomb of the Badeni family, who were here before them.
The Baroque high altar from the first half of the 17th century holds a copy of the Roman image of St Gregory. The ebony tabernacle with small alabaster columns dates from around 1700. To the left of the altar the founder's tombstone is set into the wall: Wierzbięta of Branice is shown as a kneeling knight in armour, with a shield bearing the Gryf coat of arms at his feet. The founder's unique wooden epitaph is now kept in the National Museum in Kraków. During thorough conservation work in 2000-2005, a medieval depiction of a eucharistic feast was uncovered on the side wall of the chancel. The rest of the paintings were made in the 1950s by Józef Dutkiewicz.
Did you know?
To the right of the altar hangs a plaque from 1922 commemorating a visit to the church on 11 September 1918. On that day Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha came to the church together with the apostolic visitor Achille Ratti, later Pope Pius XI.