Humanity's innate draw towards the numinous, the supernatural and metaphysical - the spiritual aspects of life - has long been exploited by organised religion. The bigger, the more splendid your place of worship, the better.
Wrocław is a city of a great many cathedrals, abbeys, basilicas and churches, reflecting diverse faiths. It is also a city that has changed hands over the centuries and witnessed the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Holocaust. All this becomes clear when visiting the city's many holy places.
Below: the Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene, and its famous Penitents' Bridge linking the two towers at a height of 45m above the ground. Photo taken from the viewing galery around the tower of St Elizabeth's church, the highest such point of any Wrocław church.
Below: looking down and across from the Penitents' Bridge. Now here's the thing about this cathedral - it is not Roman Catholic - it is linked to the
Polish National Catholic Church (and so unaffiliated with the Vatican)! Despite the name, its beliefs (as set out on a placard in the nave) seem more liberal than the Radio Maria end of Polish Roman Catholicism. The PNCC was set up in the US in the late 19th century in response to Polish Catholics unhappy with German and Irish bishops. I had no idea!
Below: side chapel, St Elizabeth's Church. Culture clash. To the left and right, baroque altars erected in honour of patrons from the 17th and 18th century Prussian aristocracy; in between modern stained glass remembering the formerly Polish cities of the Kresy - eastern borderlands that Poland lost after the war in exchange for Lower Silesia and West Pomerania.
Below: the interior of Wrocław's White Stork synagogue, the only one that survived the Holocaust. On the first floor, an exhibition outlining the history of Wrocław's (and before that Breslau's) Jewish community - centuries of persecution, right up to the expulsion of Jews from communist Poland in 1968. I was particularly fascinated by the story of Jewish rationalism during the Enlightenment; balancing tradition and belief with the scientific method.
In contrast with Protestant and Jewish places of worship, the Orthodox Church assails the senses. Here we have St Cyril & Methodius in Wrocław. Below: looking at the iconostasis.
Below: looking up at the ceiling. All that's missing are heavenly multipart harmonies and incense.
Left: totally Tridentine - the Cathedral of John the Baptist on Ostrów Tumski. Latin Masses! No screaming kids! No taking Holy Communion in the hand while standing! Like the Second Vatican Council had never happened! Nowhere else in Wrocław!
Below: elevated corridor bridging two parts of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth convent, Ostrów Tumski.
This time three years ago:
This time four years ago:
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2 comments:
About Polish National in Buffalo, New York:
https://poloniatrail.com/location/holy-mother-of-the-rosary-cathedral-polish-national-catholic-church/
They left for the suburbs in the 90s. Poles stopped coming to Buffalo for jobs in manufacturing long before and the area is now slowly recovering from it's nadir with many Muslim immigrants. The Polish National Cathedral building on Sobieski Street is now a mosque. A few Polish landmarks remain, including Catholic parishes. The east side is known for Dyngus Day celebrations which have taken on a life of their own. I forget which building, but one of them still has "Dom Polski" chiseled in stone above the doorway.
It looks like for the new suburban location website, they have dropped "Polish" from the name.
http://www.holymotheroftherosary.org/history
There were magnificent mosaics in the old Cathedral building, presumably funded by working-class Poles. I remember one of them was dedicated to Rzeszów. I wonder where those mosaics are now?
@ DC:
Wow! Many thanks for the links and the story! Completely new to me!
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