Kościół pw. Świętego Tomasza Apostoła
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Stare Miasto district. A listed monument (heritage register). Run by: Zgromadzenie Ducha Świętego pod opieką Niepokalanego Serca Maryi Panny (Duchaczki).
History
The Church of St Thomas the Apostle stands on Szpitalna Street, on the corner of św. Tomasza Street. It belongs to the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and administratively comes under the parish of St Mary's Basilica. The church's history begins with a wooden meeting house of the Polish Brethren, which was destroyed on 23 May 1591 during anti-Protestant riots. Years later, on 18 October 1618, Wespazjan Piotrowski gave the townhouse standing on this site to the Carmelites of Piasek. The friars wanted a base in the town, so they converted the building into a filial church, and on 24 September 1621 Bishop Tomasz Oborski consecrated it. The choice of patron was no accident: during the Counter-Reformation, churches and chapels dedicated to St Thomas the Apostle were often built on the sites of former Protestant meeting houses.
The Carmelites moved out in 1787, probably after a fire. From 1800 the church and monastery were looked after by canonesses who cared for the sick in the nearby Holy Spirit Hospital, and in 1828 the church and the neighbouring convent townhouse were formally handed over to the Sisters of the Holy Spirit. The interior is early Baroque, with a single nave covered by a barrel vault with lunettes. The portal of Dębnik marble was made in the first half of the 17th century, and above it, in niches, stand stone figures of Christ and the Apostles Peter and Paul. The high altar is adorned with an image of Our Lady of the Scapular. Since 2018 the church has held the remains of the Venerable Servant of God Sister Emanuela Kalb.
Did you know?
In the side altar on the left hangs a mid-17th-century crucifix, moved here from the Church of the Holy Spirit. According to tradition it is associated with Sister Nimfa Suchońska (1688-1709), who became known for helping victims of the plague of 1707-1709 and herself died of it on 6 June 1709.