The Dominican monastery with the Church of the Holy Trinity
The beginnings of the monastery reach back to the year 1222, when
Bishop Iwo Odrowaz gave the former parish church to monks invited from
Bologna. A relic from this period is a Romanesque refectory. The
construction of a new early Gothic church was probably begun after the
Tatar raid of 1241. Originally based on a hall scheme, it was extended
and rebuilt as a three-aisled basilica in the second half of 14th
century and the 15th century. The great prestige enjoyed by the order
of St Dominic made the church of the Holy Trinity into one of the
grandest in Cracow. Both the church itself, and the monastery
cloisters filled with countless number of tombs, and the set of burial
chapels of the 16th and 17th centuries was second only to the Wawel
Cathedral necropolis. The great fire of 1850 brought an end to the
original splendour of the Dominican Church, damaging its architecture
and almost completely destroying the furnishings.
The present main nave and the presbytery are covered by the same
roof, terminating in the west and east in stepped gables. The slender
stepped gable visible from the Dominika?ski Square is the most
characteristic view of the present church. In this construction, brick
body of the Gothic building contrasts with the adjoining chapels,
especially from the side facing Dominika?ska street. Inside neo-gothic
vestibule, there's an amazing late 14th century stone portal richly
ornamented with carved floral motifs. The interior of the church gives
an impression of emptiness and coldness. The opulence and formal
variety of original altars disappeared with the 1850 fire and was
replaced by a uniform neo-Gothic decoration.
Photo 671, May 2007