Church of St. Casimir the Prince, Kraków

Main article: Churches of Kraków

Kościół św. Kazimierza Królewicza

The Church of St. Casimir the Prince (Template:Lang-pl) in Kraków, Poland – with the adjacent Franciscan monastery and the catacombs – is located at ul. Reformacka 4 street in the Old Town district (Stare Miasto).

Members of the Catholic Order of Franciscans known as "Little Brothers" arrived in Kraków in 1622 and settled at the outskirts of town in Garbary (1625). Their church was completed in 1640 thanks to donation from Zuzanna Amendówna, bequeathed around 1644, along with the miracle painting of Madonna displayed today at the side altar of the new church. The first church of the Order was destroyed during the Swedish Deluge. In 1658 monks settled at the Reformacka street in a small manor given to them by Stanisław Warszycki, the castellan of Kraków. In 1666 suffragan bishop Mikołaj Oborski layed the founding stone under the current temple. The chief benefactor of the church and the monastery was Franciszek Szembek, a local noble and the castellan of Kamieniec. The new Baroque temple was consecrated in 1672.

Inside the church there are late Baroque altars originating from 1745-48. A crucifix is put at the high altar in accordance with the basic rule of the Order. The Patron of the church, St. Casimir, has his fascimile at the side altar (first on the left). This image most probably came into existence in 1660-1670 and is assumed to be the work of the Gdańsk painter Daniel Schultz. Paintings on the vault of the church came from 1904 and are work of Aleksander Mroczkowski.

The catacombs

The toll bell

On the outside wall of the Monastery is an old, historic "bell for the dying" rang only when someone close to the Little Brothers passed away. The bell is protected by a small roof. Below the bell is a plaque of black marble, written in reference to its foundation in 1750.

Please note! Monastic crypts with mummified bodies are made available for public viewing only once a year, at All Saints Day, on November 2. In the past, the mummies were attracting crowds of visitors causing unforseen climatic challenges.

The catacombs in the crypt under the Church are among some of the most secret places in the city. Unique climatic conditions found in the basement caused, that the bodies of the dead underwent the process of natural mummification and are in excellent state until today. Among them, hidden there since 1667 are the remains of many monks and members of Polish noble families such as Wielopolscy, Szembekowie and Morsztynowie. Monastic books reveal that in total 730 laypeople and 250 monks were layed in the catacombs over the years. The remains of monks are sitting down right under the chancel of the church, without coffins, directly on earth and sand. In the glass coffin there's the body of His Holiness Father Sebastian Wolicki. Among the most notable is the body of Countess Domicella Skalska employed by the Church as a housemaid for 20 years. She revealed her noble origin only briefly before the death in 1864.

In the crypt there's also the body of a Napoleonic soldier once dressed in full uniform with the sabre and rifle next to him. During World War II the Germans took the weapons away and set up an air-raid shelter in the catacombs. The monks' oral tradition tells that the soldier was seriously injured and dragged himself to monastic gates in 1812. He died shortly after, in the infirmary, without regaining consciousness.

References

• Template:Pl icon Kościół św. Kazimierza w Krakowie, podziemia klasztoru (The catacombs)
• Template:Pl icon Zakony Franciszkańskie w Polsce - strona poświęcona gromadzeniu informacji o zakonach franciszkańskich (The history of Franciscan Order in Poland)
• Template:Pl icon Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, miasto Kraków, Kościoły i klasztory śródmieścia 2 pod redakcją Adama Bochnaka i Jana Samka wyd. PAN, Warszawa 1978. (Catalogue of art objects; churches and monasteries of the inner city)
• Kościół św. Kazimierza: Ukryte miejsca w Krakowie