Cathedral of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul in Legnica

The Cathedral of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul in Legnica is located at Cathedral Square in the city of Legnica, Poland. The present building was erected between 1333 and 1380. A chapel was added in the fifteenth century, and in the late nineteenth century the church was converted into the neo-Gothic style. Over the centuries the church has acquired numerous statues and decorative features. Pope John Paul II established the church as a cathedral on March 25, 1992 and visited the cathedral on June 2, 1997.

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul
Cathedral of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul in Legnica
Katedra Świętych Apostołów Piotra i Pawła w Legnicy
Cathedral from the intersection of Blessed Virgin Mary and Tadeusz Łączynski Streets
Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul
51°12′25″N 16°09′42″E
Location	Legnica
Country	Poland
Language(s)	Polish
Denomination	Catholic
History
Authorising papal bull	25 March 1992
Status	Cathedral
Dedication	Saint Peter, Saint Paul
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Cultural heritage site
Designated	25 November 1949
Administration
Archdiocese	Wrocław
Diocese	Legnica

History and architecture

First mentioned in 1208, the present building was erected between 1333 and 1380. Among its builders is the bricklayer Wiland, probably the son of a Wroclaw bricklayer of the same name, operating in the 13th century. A chapel was added in the fifteenth century, and in the years 1892-1894 the church was converted into the neo-Gothic style.^[1] From 1338 to 1341 the western portal was decorated with a Gothic stone statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus. The northern portal shows the bowing of the Three Kings in a rare example of Gothic art. There is also a pentaptych from the fifteenth century with scenes depicting St. Anna Samotrzec, St. Hedwig and scenes of the Passion of Christ - the most valuable, but also the only, historical Gothic painting, located in the chapel on the northern side of the church. Inside there are numerous epitaphs, a Renaissance pulpit from the years 1586–1588, a Baroque altar, a bronze baptismal font in the shape of a 13th-century mass chalice, statues of apostles from the 14th century, a tombstone of the Duke of Brzeg and Legnica Louis II and his wife Elizabeth Brandenburg. In 1645 a captain-lieutenant of the imperial majesty Joachim Friedrich from the Prudnice family of Bilicer was buried in the cathedral.^[2]

On March 25, 1992 Pope John Paul II established the church as a cathedral with the bull Totus Tuus Poloniae Populus. The Pope visited the cathedral on June 2, 1997.^[3]

On April 10, 2011 in the vestibule of the main entrance to the temple a plaque commemorating the victims of the Polish catastrophe Tu-154 in Smolensk was unveiled. In addition to the list of victims, the plaque also features the following sentence: "The President was humiliated and scoffed at by others during his lifetime and after his death, but for numerous fellow countrymen he was the hope of rebuilding an independent and just Poland".

On November 5, 2014, Father Władysław Bochnak (1934-2014), a long-time priest of the cathedral parish, was buried in the crypt.^[4] On March 11, 2017, the first bishop of Legnica, Tadeusz Rybak, was buried there as well.^[5][6]

Gallery

• 
  Photo taken from Powstańców Wielkopolskich Square. The monument of John Paul II in the foreground
• 
  Shot from the northern part of Powstańców Wielkopolskich Square.
• 
  Cathedral towers
• 
  Northern Portal - Bow of the Three Kings
• 
  Western Portal
• 
  Rosette over the Western Portal
• 
  Renaissance pulpit from 1586 to 1588
• 
  Baroque altar
• 
  Patrons of the Diocese - St. Peter and Paul
• 
  Monument to Pope John Paul II
• 
  Plaque commemorating the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000

References

1. Janusz Czerwiński, Ryszard Chanas, Dolny Śląsk – przewodnik, Warszawa: Wyd. Sport i Turystyka, 1977, p. 326.
2. "Bilitsch – Bilitz, eine Stadt und Herrschaft – Bilitz, Bielsky von – Bilitzer von Bilitz – Bilkan – Bilke – Bilkenstern – Bilkowsky, Belkowsky – Bill, N. – Bill, Wilhelm – Billa, ein kleiner Fluß oder Bach im Herzogthum Crain – Blättern im Zedler-Lexikon Bd. 0, Seite 622". Archived from the original on 2021-02-07.
3. Bochnak, Władysław (1934- ). (1997). Jan Paweł II w Katedrze Legnickiej. Legnica: Wydawnictwo Edytor. ISBN 83-907812-2-0. OCLC 749520672.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. "Father Bochnak's body will be laid to rest in the cathedral". Archived from the original on 2014-11-05.
5. "Funeral of Bishop Tadeusz Rybak". Archived from the original on 2017-03-15.
6. "Legnica said goodbye to its first bishop". Archived from the original on 2017-03-11.