Kościół pw. Świętej Kingi
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Podgórze district.
History
St Kinga's Church in Podgórze is one of Kraków's younger churches. The parish was established on 22 July 2001 by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, and its patron was a saint whom John Paul II had canonised just two years earlier, on 16 June 1999 in Stary Sącz. The church was designed in the studio of Krzysztof Ingarden and Jacek Ewý.
Work on the building site began in 2003: in June the digging of the foundations started. The foundation stone was laid on 12 October 2005 by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz. It had been taken from St Kinga's tomb in Stary Sącz and blessed by John Paul II. By 2005 the church already had its shell and roof, and on the evening of 19 May 2007 Cardinal Dziwisz blessed the new church.
The interior was furnished gradually, and all the decoration was made by the sculptor Marcin Szczepaniak from Rzeszów. In the chancel stands a statue of the patron saint holding a model of the church in her hands. She is accompanied by her attributes: a lily, a crown and a sceptre, along with a casket containing relics of St Kinga from Stary Sącz. The altar holds a figure of the Risen Christ more than four and a half metres tall, surrounded by a ceramic mosaic and rays of polished bronze. In 2012-2013 the church was given a façade that imitates the texture of brick.
Did you know?
The figure of the Risen Christ in the altar is more than 4 metres tall and weighs 150 kilograms.