Cathedral Basilica

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Cathedral Basilica

Cathedral Basilica

GPS:
50.86896, 20.62861
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The Cathedral Basilica stands on the site of the Romanesque collegiate church founded by bishop Gedeon (Gedek) of the House of Gryfit in 1171, and destroyed in 1244 by the army of Conrad of Masovia. After numerous extensions (in the years 1514-22 bishop Jan Konarski added the sacristy and the chapter-house, in 1583 bishop Piotr Myszkowski extended the nave, and in 1719 bishop Kazimierz Łubieński added the side chapels) it acquired its present rectangular three-nave shape, with a semicircular apse. The interior of the church is in Baroque style. Among the interesting features of the basilica and its immediate surroundings, it is worth mentioning the unique Baroque relief of the Virgin Mary made of lead ore – galena, which, according to a legend, was mined by the miner Hilary Mala in 1646. It is one of three sculptures made from lead lumps excavated by Mala. The largest of these, depicting St. Barbara, is also found in Kielce, in the church on Karczówka mountain. Other valuable decorative elements of the temple include: a Łagiewniki triptych dating back to around 1500, a Renaissance tombstone of Elżbieta Zebrzydowska (born Krzycka h. Kotwicz) made of red marble and a famous painting of Our Lady of the Rosary of Grace of Kielce from around 1600. In the basement of the cathedral there is a crypt with the graves of the bishops of Kielce. In the northern wall of the church opposite the bell tower is a marble plaque founded in 1782 by primate Michał Poniatowski (brother of King Stanisław August). It presents the units of weight, area and length, lower and upper case letters of the alphabet and catechism rules. Next to the cathedral are: An 18th century bell tower with a clock, a Baroque chapel from 1760 and a symbolic grave of Wojciech Bartos Głowacki, who died on June 9, 1794, from wounds suffered in the battle of Szczekociny. 

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