St. Andrew's Church, Romanesque church building in Kraków Old Town, Poland
St. Andrew's Church is a Romanesque stone building in Kraków Old Town with two octagonal towers and doubled arcade windows. Narrow openings pierce the massive walls and reveal the original defensive function of this structure on Grodzka Street.
The building rose between 1079 and 1098 and served the population as a refuge during the Mongol invasion of 1241. The fortified design allowed people to shelter behind the reinforced walls from the advancing horsemen.
The Poor Clares founded their convent beside the building in 1320 and continue living behind its thick walls. The sisters still follow their strict monastic rule and preserve a centuries-old tradition of contemplation and prayer within this community.
Access is possible only during religious services, and trams 1, 6, 8, 13, 18 and 69 stop near Grodzka 54. Those wishing to see the interior should check current mass times before visiting.
An eighteenth-century boat-shaped pulpit adorns the interior alongside stucco work by Baldassare Fontana. Numerous baroque and rococo furnishings fill the side aisles and testify to later artistic additions.
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