St. Martin and St. Nicholas Cathedral, Bydgoszcz

About

St. Martin and St. Nicholas Cathedral (Polish: Katedra św. Marcina i Mikołaja), or simply known as Bydgoszcz Cathedral, is a Catholic church built in the 15th century. It has a Gothic style, serves as a parish church and cathedral of the Diocese of Bydgoszcz. It also houses a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its address is 10 Farna Street. It is the most valuable architectural monument of the Old Town, standing on the Brda riverside. It was elevated to cathedral on March 25, 2004, by decision of then Pope John Paul II. Since November 3, 1960, the cathedral has been registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian heritage list.

The Bydgoszcz parish church was founded by first mayors of the city, Jan Kiesselhuth and Konrad, at the same time the parish itself was created, after Bydgoszcz's establishment in 1346. The church building and its adjoining cemetery (active until 1809) were located in the north-western corner of city marketplace (today's Old Market Place – Polish : Stary Rynek ), reaching the banks of the river Brda and its millrace branches feeding water mills (today's Mill Island ).

The 17th-century chronicle of Bydgoszcz by Wojciech Łochowski as well as historical researches suggest that prior the construction of the parish church, an older temple dedicated to Saint Giles had already been standing in the suburbs of the old city of Kujawski. From the 13th century, it served as a chapel of ease for local officials and knights of Bydgoszcz castle. After the construction of the castle in Bydgoszcz in the middle of the 14th century, Saint Giles's church replaced the castle chapel. Until building completion of the parish church, its priest resided at the chapel of ease. This episode established a later but distorted tradition, making Saint Giles's church the oldest parish church in Bydgoszcz; the chapel was demolished in 1879 when constructing Bernardyńska Street.

It is believed that Bydgoszcz parish church was partly a wooden church, and completed around 1364, before the erection of the first Carmelite monastery in Bydgoszcz (1398). The first mention of a church priest was made on 22 July 1402, a reference to the church dates back to 1408 and the title of the parish church was quoted in a 1417 document. Together with the church a parish school was established.

Part of the church was built of brick, allowing the synod of the diocese of Włocławek to take place here in January 1425. In addition, the northern wall of the present church still bears brick traces of windows and a portal. In 1425, a fire destroyed some elements of the building, probably the wooden roof, while archived city documents were also lost during this disaster, according to Wojciech Łochowski's chronicles.

Construction of the Gothic temple (1425-1466)

The reconstruction of the temple the same year (1425) comprised the enlargement of the main building and the construction of two aisles. Since builders integrated into the new building the northern brick wall from the previous temple, the church displays a chancel wider than the nave by almost 2 metres.

Like other mediaeval religious structures, the construction did not interrupt the liturgical services, as mentioned in 1449 in a document related to the erection of the Holy Trinity Church in the northern suburb of the city (at the location of today's Poor Clares' Church.

Funding for the project, albeit fluctuating, was mainly provided during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) against the Teutonic Order, when Bydgoszcz was frequently visited by Casimir IV Jagiellon, his retinue, high ranking clergy, crowds of dignitaries, knights, and by the Margrave of Brandenburg Frederick II or Eric II, Duke of Pomerania. Jan Kościelecki, local power broker and one of the major financial tycoons in Poland at the time (1457–1475), also contributed in a significant way.

The church exterior was completed in 1466: the same year, interior decoration began with the altars being set up:

- Virgin birth of Jesus altar in the northern aisle in 1466;

- Stanislaus of Szczepanów altar (1488);

- main altar realized by Poznań painter Wawrzyniec Stuler, ordered by Bydgoszcz parish priest Mikołaj in 1460. In 1497, Krzesław Kurozwęcki, bishop of Włocławek, organized there a synod for clergy of Kujawy. For this occasion, the church received additional dedications, complementing the one from the 14th century to Saint Nicholas : it received as patron saints Martin of Tours, Adalbert of Prague and Stanislaus of Szczepanów. The celebration of these dedications was celebrated each year, on the first Sunday after St Bartholomew the Apostle day (i.e. August 24).

The area of the aisle and the chancel, around 604 square metres (6,500 sq ft), was in 1466 the ninth largest parish church in the diocese of Włocławek, after:

- Gdańsk's St. Catherine's Church, St. Mary's Church, St. Jean's church, St. Pierre-St. Paul's church and St. Barbara's church;

- Church of the Holy Cross in Tczew. Within Kujawy, only the St. Nicholas parish church in Inowroclaw was larger.

At the end of the 15th century, roofs were elevated, using pine wood, brought via the Brda river and chopped on the spot, the gable and the presbytery roofs were star-shaped and vaulted. At the same time, the church's southern steeple was attached to the main body.

From 1466 to 1617, three quadrangular chapels were erected and attached to the main body, while a fourth chapel was built at the location of the former presbytery entrance. In 1559, a turret carrying a light bell cast by master Andrzej was set up at the edge of the nave roof; another bell was suspended there in 1668. In 1702, it was replaced by a Baroque turret, covered with bronze. It still stands today: it is octagonal and has a roof lantern. A new bell was ordered for this realization from bellfounder Absalom Wittwerck from Gdańsk.

In 1585, a Gothic rectangular sacristy was erected, abutting the northern chancel wall: an inscription from 1585 was discovered after the Second World War beneath the plaster of the window sill. Between 1712 and 1745, part of the wooden barrel vault ceiling between the two storeys was replaced by a lunette. In the 1650s, major construction and renovation works started:

- the tower received a third storey, as one can see today;