Kościół pw. Świętego Józefa (ul. Jana Zamoyskiego)
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Podgórze district. Date according to Wikidata: 1909. Architect: Jan Sas Zubrzycki. A listed monument (heritage register).
History
St Joseph's Church towers over Podgórze Market Square and is one of the most distinctive buildings of the former town of Podgórze. The parish was founded here in 1818, and its first place of worship was a modest chapel set up in a government building that had previously served as a uniform store. In the 1830s a Classicist church designed by Franciszek Brotschneider was built in the Market Square. Its furnishings, including the high altar and the pulpit, were bought at auction from Kraków's demolished All Saints' Church. When the parish had more than 17,000 faithful and the building was deteriorating, the church was pulled down in 1905. What remains of it is a free-standing bell tower from 1879 and the cross from the old tower, which now stands in front of St Benedict's Church.
The new church was built in 1905-1909 to a neo-Gothic design by Jan Sas-Zubrzycki. The foundation stone was blessed on 13 May 1905, and the church was consecrated on 24 October 1909 by Bishop Anatol Nowak. The tower is modelled on that of St Mary's Basilica, and the whole silhouette was deliberately made to rise above the buildings of the Market Square. The church has three aisles, a transept and an ambulatory around the chancel. The interior was designed to resemble a Gothic cathedral, in the variant known as Vistula Gothic, and most of the altars, pews and other fittings are made of wood. The neo-Gothic pulpit from 1910, by Wit Wisz, is a replica of the pulpit in St Mary's Basilica. The statue of St Joseph at the high altar is by the Kraków sculptor Zygmunt Langman. The organ was blessed in 1922. Since 19 March 2021 the church has been the archdiocesan Sanctuary of St Joseph.
Did you know?
The seven deadly sins are carved on the steps leading up to the pulpit in the form of animals: the tortoise stands for sloth, the peacock for pride, the dragon for greed, and the snake with an apple in its mouth for envy.