Wrocław Cathedral

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The cathedral in 2002.

The Cathedral in Wrocław, Poland, (św. Jana Chrzciciela, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist), is the center of the Wrocław archdiocese. This cathedral, located in Ostrów Tumski, is a gothic church with neogothic additions. The current standing cathedral is the fourth church to have been built on the site.

The first church at the location of the present cathedral was built in the 10th century, a stone building with one nave with a transept and apse. After 1000, when the diocese was founded, it was replaced by a larger basilical structure with three naves, a crypt, and towers on its east side. This first cathedral was destroyed around 1030.

A larger, Roman cathedral was soon built in its place in the times of Casimir I, and expanded by bishop Walter of Malonne in 1158. In the following century, the church was expanded, and parts were later also rebuilt in gothic style. It was the first building of the town to be made of brick when construction started in 1244.

On June 19, 1540, a fire destroyed the roof, which was restored 16 years later in Renaissance style. Another fire on June 9, 1759, burnt the towers, roof, sacristy, and quire. The damage was slowly repaired during the following 150 years. In the 19th century, Karl Lüdecke rebuilt the interior and western side in neogothic style. Further work was done at the beginning of the 20th century by Hugo Hartung, especially on the towers ruined during the 1759 fire.

The cathedral was almost entirely destroyed (about 70% of the construction) during the siege of the city by the Red Army in 1945. The initial reconstruction lasted until 1951. In the following years, additional aspects were rebuilt and renovated. The original, conical shape of the towers was restored only in 1991.

The cathedral also holds the largest organ in Poland, formerly, the largest organ in the world, as well.