Wrocław Cathedral

Take a close look at the south wall of Wrocław Cathedral and you will see a distinct step in the masonry. It is the mark of a medieval mistake: when the new Gothic nave was built in the 14th century, its axis ended up a dozen or so centimetres off line from the older chancel. The Cathedral of St John the Baptist on Ostrów Tumski is the fourth church on this spot and is regarded as one of the four oldest cathedrals in Poland. Its twin towers, each about 97 m tall, are among the city's highest landmarks, and the viewing gallery on one of them looks out over all of Wrocław.

History: four cathedrals on one site

About 6 m below the floor of today's nave lie the remains of the first church, from the early 10th century, detected by ground-penetrating radar. After the bishopric was founded in the year 1000, a pre-Romanesque basilica funded by Bolesław the Brave, Poland's first king, was built here — a surviving piece of one of its roof beams has been dated to 1004. Destroyed during the Bohemian invasion of 1038–1039, it was followed by later buildings, and in 1158 Bishop Walter began a grand Romanesque cathedral.

The Gothic rebuilding took more than a century. In 1244–1272 Bishop Thomas I added a brick chancel with an ambulatory, and the nave was finished around 1349. In 1517 Bishop Johann Thurzo funded the sacristy portal, considered the first Renaissance work in Silesia. After fires in 1540, 1633 and 1759 the cathedral was repeatedly rebuilt, gaining Baroque chapels.

In 1945, during the siege of "Festung Breslau", about 70 per cent of the cathedral was destroyed. Primate Stefan Wyszyński reconsecrated it on 29 July 1951, but for forty years the towers had flat roofs. Only on 14 August 1991 were new 17-tonne spires, designed by Edmund Małachowicz, lifted into place, each 37 m tall.

What to see

• St Elizabeth's Chapel (1680–1700), founded by Cardinal Frederick of Hesse, with a bust of the founder from Bernini's workshop.
• The Electoral Chapel (1716–1724), designed by the Viennese architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach — the burial place of Maria Kazimiera Sobieska, granddaughter of King John III Sobieski.
• The Gothic Lady Chapel by Master Pieszko, with the tomb of Bishop John IV by Peter Vischer, dated 1503.
• The Renaissance silver high altar funded by Bishop Andreas Jerin — back in the chancel since December 2019.
• The organ, with 151 stops the largest in Poland, built from an instrument that in 1913 was the largest organ in the world, in the Centennial Hall.

Did you know?

• All four of the cathedral's bells come from the town of Lubań and bear the inscription "LAUBAN 1921"; the largest still shows a bullet mark from the war.
• In 1997 Pope John Paul II crowned the painting of the Virgin known as the Sobieski Madonna here.
• The cathedral is 98 m long and is the second-tallest building in Wrocław.

Tripto tip

Entry to the cathedral itself is free; tickets are needed for the tower gallery (reached by lift), the Baroque chapels with the chancel, and the exhibitions. According to the cathedral website, the tower and chapels are open Monday to Saturday 10:00–17:00 and on Sunday 14:00–16:00; the terrace closes in bad weather. Prices change, so check before your visit — children under 6 go free, and family tickets are available. Sightseeing stops during Mass and services. Allow 1–1.5 hours for the cathedral and tower, then stroll across Ostrów Tumski and over Tumski Bridge to Sand Island — the best photo of the twin towers is from the riverside promenades along the Oder.