Mogiła Cistercian Abbey in Kraków: a Medieval Abbey in Nowa Huta

Po polsku: Opactwo Cystersów w Mogile

Would you expect to find a medieval abbey in Nowa Huta, the district famous for its socialist-realist architecture? The Cistercian Abbey in Mogiła is in the eastern part of Kraków, on the site of a former village called Mogiła, and it is one of the city’s most important sacred sites.

How the Cistercians came to Mogiła

The Cistercians arrived in Mogiła in 1222 from the monastery in Lubiąż in Lower Silesia. They were invited by the Bishop of Kraków, Iwo Odrowąż.

Their task was to help remove the remains of pagan cults that had existed for centuries around the mound of Wanda (mogiła Wandy). The result of the monks’ work was a church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and St Wenceslas the Martyr, and a monastery that has survived to this day. The dedication may refer to an earlier name of the place, „St Wenceslas’ field” (pole św. Wacława).

A long and eventful history

Building began soon after the monks arrived, but it was quickly interrupted by the Tatar invasion of 1241. The Tatars destroyed much of the unfinished church and killed the monks. The church was finally consecrated in 1266 by Blessed Jan Prandota, Bishop of Kraków, in the presence of Bolesław the Chaste and his wife, Blessed Kinga.

Under Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) the church was renovated, and the monastery gained cloisters (krużganki) and a refectory, the monks’ dining hall.

In the 16th century, under Abbot Erazm Ciołek, the monastery had a school of painting and manuscript illumination. Its most famous member was Stanisław Samostrzelnik (died 1541), a monk of Mogiła born in Kraków. His works are scattered today across European museums, including London, Oxford, Munich, St Petersburg and Milan. It was also under Ciołek that the monastery church was opened to the public. Until then it had been closed to outsiders as part of the monks’ enclosure, and local people used the small wooden church of St Bartholomew.

The monastery often hosted royal guests: Queen Bona, Sigismund the Old, Sigismund Augustus, Stephen Báthory and Sigismund III Vasa.

Hard times came too. In 1655 the Swedes occupied the monastery. Several monks were killed, cavalry was brought into the church and the treasury was robbed. In 1657 allied Austrian troops took the monastery, where King John Casimir (Jan Kazimierz) was staying with his wife Maria Gonzaga.

In 1708 a higher theological school was founded in Mogiła, the so-called Studium Generalne, with the right to award academic degrees.

During the Partitions, when Poland did not exist as a state, the Mogiła monastery was not dissolved like other Cistercian monasteries. It lay within the Free City of Kraków. That makes it one of the few monasteries in Poland that have existed without a break since the Middle Ages.

During the Nazi occupation the Germans took over the monastery and the monks were dispersed. In 1946-48 the church was restored. Baroque and eclectic additions were removed to bring back its original look. In 1970 Pope Paul VI gave the church the title of minor basilica. One of the most important moments in the abbey’s history was the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979.

What to see

The church

The church (1222-1266) is built of brick, with stone used for architectural details and decoration. It is early Gothic in style, with many Romanesque elements kept. The chancel, transept, twin chapels and side aisles all belong to this early building. The barrel vault of the main nave was built after a fire in 1780.

Inside you will see polychromy, which means painted decoration on the walls. In the splays of several windows, traces of Gothic frescoes have survived. The chancel, transept and the southern twin chapels have 16th-century polychromy painted by Stanisław Samostrzelnik.

The high altar in the chancel is a late Gothic polyptych (a multi-panel altarpiece) from 1514. Its central cabinet holds a statue of Mary with the Child. Two pairs of carved and painted wings show scenes from the life and Passion of Christ, and prophets.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is separated from the main nave by a Baroque grille from 1650. It has a late Baroque altar with a crucifix from the mid-14th century, known as a place of graces, and an antependium (altar front) from 1842.

Cloisters, library and garden

The Gothic cloisters were built in the time of Casimir the Great. They hold Gothic and Renaissance tombstones moved from the church and the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and a 13th-century portal.

The library, with its archive, is above the southern twin chapels and is open only for scholarly purposes. In the southern corner of the cloisters there used to be the monks’ oratory. Today, renovated, it serves as a chapel for university students.

The monastery garden can be entered only in a group with a guide, or during the annual church festival (odpust) on 14-21 September.

The sundial

On the southern wall of the church there is a sundial with the Latin inscription „Adducam contra te tempus”, „I will bring time against you”. It reminds the people living in the monastery to lead a life true to their calling, summed up in the motto „Ora et labora” (pray and work).

Visiting

If you want to see the basilica, remember that it is a working church with many Masses during the week. The current Mass schedule is in the box below, and the abbey’s own website has the latest order. My tip is to wear comfortable shoes and allow some extra time, because the abbey is a good starting point for exploring more of Nowa Huta.

Nearby: the wooden church of St Bartholomew in Mogiła. All guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska