Kościół pw. Świętych Apostołów Piotra i Pawła (Opactwo Tyniec)
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Dębniki district. A listed monument (heritage register). Run by: Zakon Benedyktynów.
History
The Church of St Peter and St Paul is part of the Benedictine abbey in Tyniec, the oldest existing monastery in Poland. The abbey stands on a limestone hill above the Vistula. It was most probably founded in 1044 by Kazimierz I Odnowiciel (Casimir the Restorer), and its first abbot was Aaron of Cologne. Some scholars, however, believe that the founder was only his son, Bolesław II Szczodry (the Generous).
In the second half of the 11th century a Romanesque basilica and monastery buildings were built here. In 1259 the monastery was destroyed in a Tatar raid. A new, Gothic church was built in the 15th century and consecrated in 1463 under Abbot Maciej of Skawina. At that time the Tyniec Benedictines were among the richest religious houses in Poland: according to Jan Długosz, they owned a hundred villages and five small towns.
In 1618-1622 the church was rebuilt in the Baroque style and consecrated on 8 May 1622. It has survived in this form to this day. In 1771-1772 the monastery suffered when the Bar Confederates turned it into a stronghold and it was besieged by Russian troops. In 1816 the Austrian partitioning authorities dissolved the abbey, and after a fire caused by a lightning strike in 1831 only the church was restored. The monks returned to Tyniec on 30 July 1939, after 123 years, and in 1968 the abbey was re-established.
The most precious feature of the interior is the Rococo high altar of black marble, with the Holy Trinity and the apostles Peter and Paul, the work of Francesco Placidi (Franciszek Placidi). You will also see a late Baroque pulpit in the shape of a boat and 17th-century choir stalls in the long chancel. In 2002 John Paul II visited the abbey, and in 2017 the abbey complex was declared a Monument of History.
Did you know?
A view of the abbey was used in Jerzy Hoffman's film "With Fire and Sword" to depict the captured town of Bar.