St. Martin’s Chapel
The 17th painting St. Martin Entering Amiens is in the altar. St. Martin has the face of Polish Prince Władysław Waza (Vasa) and the rider in golden armour has the face of Zygmunt III Waza (Sigismund III Vasa). The legend of St. Martin lives on in Poznań. Ul. Święty Marcin (St. Martin St.) celebrates its name day on 11 November with the St. Martin parish fair. St. Martin leads a procession from the imperial castle. The fun starts once he is given the keys to the city. This is when the traditional St. Martin “rogals” (pastries similar to croissants) are eaten.
Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, the Górka Family and the Holy Cross
Founded by Uriel Górka in 1481 as a monument to the Górka family, the most powerful in 16th-century Wielkopolska, the chapel contains a fascinating tomb built by Hieronim Canavesi in 1574. The artist signed the cornice with “This is a work of Hieronim Canavesi, resident of ul. Floriańska, Cracow” in Latin.
There is a baroque altar with a benevolent crucifix on the opposite side. According to legend, the cross was originally found on the Wrocław Gate. Once, when an unjustly convicted person was led through it to be executed, Christ spoke in his defence from the cross. The cross was then moved to the cathedral.
The Eucharist is stored in the altar.
Vischer Tombstones
Bronze tombstones hang on the pillars of the ambulatory. The oldest is Gothic in nature and was made in Flanders for Bp. Andrzej of Bnin c. 1460. The next, for Bp. Uriel Górka and his father Łukasz, comes from the Vischers’ Nuremberg workshop. They are worth as much as a townhouse in the centre of the city. The stones were carted away by the Germans during WWII, found in the Hermitage in 1990, and returned to Poznań.
Sword of St. Peter
A copy of the Sword of St. Peter (the original is in the Archdiocesan Museum) is displayed in a showcase on the wall beside the sacristy. According to tradition, Bishop Jordan was given the sword by the pope when he set out for the realm of Mieszko I. This is said to be the sword with which Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest trying to arrest Christ on the Mount of Olives. According to analyses, the sword comes from the Holy Land and was made about 2,000 years ago.
The Golden Chapel
The Golden Chapel is located on the axis of the cathedral. When it was resolved to build a mausoleum of Poland’s first rulers on the initiative of Bp. Teofil Wolicki, Poles from all three partitions contributed. Italian architect Franciszek Maria Lanci designed the chapel in the Byzantine style and Count Edward Raczyński supervised the work. Much of the walls and ceiling is gilded. God the Father (Pantocrator) is depicted on the cupola in the company of Polish saints and blessed people using the encaustic technique (painting with molten beeswax), above the coats of arms of Poland’s first bishoprics and knightly families. There are two mosaics by Liborio Salandri in the chapel. The first is on the floor while the second, which depicts Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, is in the altar. The most important element is the sandstone sarcophagus containing the rulers’ remains in the niche on the right. The painting Boleslaus the Brave and Otto III at the Grave of St. Wojciech hangs over the sarcophagus while Mieczysław I Destroys the Idols is on the opposite side. There is a bronze monument to Mieszko I and Boleslaus the Brave by Berlin artist Christian Rauch in the niche below. Edward Raczyński covered the costs of its construction but his requirement that a foundational inscription be placed on the plinth sparked envy and protests. Raczyński could not endure the accusations levelled at him and so had the inscription removed. He committed suicide by shooting himself on an island in Zaniemyśl in January 1845.
Definitely Worth Seeing
The renaissance tomb of Bp. Adam Konarski by Hieronim Canavesi in the Chapel of the Holy Trinity.
The tombstone of Bp. Jan Lubrański, from the workshop of Bartolommeo Berrecci, who also created Sigismund Chapel on Wawel Hill.
The epitaph of Przemysł II, as well as his wife Rycheza, and father Przemysł I, by Marian Konieczny, unveiled on the 700th anniversary of his coronation on 1296.
The tombstone of Bp. Benedykt Izdbieński by Jan Michałowicz of Urzędów — Poland’s foremost renaissance sculptor.
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61-120 Poznań
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