Archicathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, Poznań
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The Archicathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznań is one of the oldest churches in Poland and the oldest Polish cathedral.
The cathedral is the supposed place of baptism of Mieszko I. Build in the second half of the 10th century. It was raised to the status of a cathedral in 968 when the first missionary Bishop Jordan came to Poland. St. Peter became the patron of the church because, as the first cathedral in the country, it had the right to have the same patron as St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The pre-romanesque church which was built at that time was about 48m in length. Relics of this building are still visible in the basements of today's basilica. The first church survived for about seventy years, until the period of the pagan reaction and the raid of the Bohemian duke Bretislav I (1034–1038). The cathedral was rebuild in the Romanesque style, remains of which are visible in the southern tower. In the 14th and 15th centuries the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style. At that time a crown of chapels was added. A fire in 1622 did such serious damage that the cathedral needed complete renovation, which was carried out in the Baroque style. Another major fire broke out in 1772 and the church was rebuilt in the Neo-Classical style. In 1821 Pope Pius VII rises cathedral to status of Metropolital Archicathedra and adds second patron - St. Paul. The last of the great fires started on 15 February 1945, during the liberation of the city from the Germans. Such serious damage was caused that the conservators decided to return to the Gothic style, using as the base medieval relics revealed by the fire. The cathedral was reopened on 29 June 1956. In 1962 Pope John XXIII gave the church the title of minor basilica.
The cathedral is the place of burial of the following rulers:
- Mieszko I (since 992)
- Boleslaus the Brave (since 1025)
- Mieszko II (since 1034)
- Casimir the Restorer (since 1058)
- Ladislaus Odonic (since 1239)
- Przemysł I (since 1257)
- Przemysł II (since 1296)
[edit] See also
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| Districts: Stare Miasto | Nowe Miasto | Jeżyce | Grunwald | Wilda Tourist attractions: St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral | Royal Castle | Lake Malta | Lake Rusałka |
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