Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, Poznań Information & Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, Poznań Links at HealthHaven.com

	Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul
	The Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul;
Basic information
Location	Poznań, Poland
Geographic coordinates	52°24′41″N 16°56′52″E / 52.41139°N 16.94778°E
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic
District	Archdiocese of Poznań
Ecclesiastical status	Cathedral (968); Metropolitan archcathedral (1821); Minor basilica (1962)
Leadership	Archbishop of Poznań
Website	www.katedra.archpoznan.org.pl
Architectural description
Architectual style	Gothic, among others
Year completed	10th century (first construction); 29 June 1956 (latest renovation)

For other uses, see St. Peter and St. Paul's Church.

The Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznań is one of the oldest churches in Poland and the oldest Polish cathedral.

[edit] History

The cathedral is supposedly place of the baptism of Mieszko I. Built in the second half of the 10th century, it was raised to the status of a cathedral in 968 when the first missionary, Bishop Jordan, came to Poland. Saint Peter became the patron of the church because, as the first cathedral in the country, it had the right to have the same patron as St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The pre-Romanesque church which was built at that time was about 48 meters in length. Remains of this building are still visible in the basements of today's basilica. The first church survived for about seventy years, until the period of the pagan reaction and the raid of the Bohemian duke Bretislav I (1034–1038). The cathedral was rebuilt in the Romanesque style, remains of which are visible in the southern tower. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style. At that time, a crown of chapels was added. A fire in 1622 did such serious damage that the cathedral needed a complete renovation, which was carried out in the Baroque style. Another major fire broke out in 1772 and the church was rebuilt in the Neo-Classical style. In 1821, Pope Pius VII raised the cathedral to the status of a Metropolitan Archcathedral and added the second patron - Saint Paul. The last of the great fires occurred on 15 February 1945, during the liberation of the city from the Germans. The damage was serious enough that the conservators decided to return to the Gothic style, using as a base medieval relics revealed by the fire. The cathedral was reopened on 29 June 1956. In 1962, Pope John XXIII gave the church the title of minor basilica.

[edit] Notable interments

The cathedral is the place of burial of the following rulers:

Mieszko I (since 992)
Boleslaus the Brave (since 1025)
Mieszko II (since 1034)
Casimir the Restorer (since 1058)
Ladislaus Odonic (since 1239)
Przemysł I (since 1257)
Przemysł II (since 1296)

[edit] Gallery

Tomb of Mieszko the First and Bolesław Chrobry	Eastern side	Mieczysław I by January Suchodolski	Dome of Golden Chapel
Monument of Mieszko I and Bolesław Chrobry		Tomb plate from Visher's workshop of voivod Łukasz I Górka	Tomb plate from Visher's workshop of canon Bernard Lubrański