Stradom – Bernardine Church.
At pl. Bernardyński no 2, on the south side of Wawel there is a monastery complex and the Bernardine Church of St.. Bernard of Siena. Church, as if receded deeper into the lot, ustępuje miejsca dla rozległego placu, where Bernardine indulgences were held. Founded by Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki, the temple was built in 1454 r., but it owes its present-day baroque appearance to the reconstruction carried out in the second half of the 17th century. Already the first cursory look inside the church allows you to notice, like backstage side altars (profusely gilded) and the rest of the delicious furnishings "shove" and "boil" around the nave. For this reason, the vault appears lower, downward. The bronze and gold presbytery looks impressive, filled with the shapes of twisted columns and arched balustrades. Two of the most famous monuments, which the Bernardine Church is proud of, are located in the left aisle. The first is a wooden Gothic statue of St.. Anna Samothier (with the Mother of God and the Child), from the 15th century. from the studio of Wit Stoss, who stands in the chapel of St.. Anna. The second is a monument, placed in front of the window, it causes horror and a feeling of depression. It is a 17th-century danse macabre painting, one of the few surviving in Poland of this type, depicting a dance with death, attended by representatives of various states. They are symbolized by women dressed in costumes of all social strata; and death is represented by skeletons. The central stage is surrounded by smaller pictures signed with interesting quatrains, the content of which reflects the thoughts of the Baroque people about death. Such an approach was to remind us of the fragility of human life and the equality of all – from the parish of the magnate – against death. Not the less of fame, albeit on a local scale, enjoys the chapel with the relics of St.. Simon of Lipnica (in the right aisle), Bernardine friar from the 15th century, who became famous for his devotion to others.
From time to time in the main Franciscan current there were splits in relation to poverty and the severity of the rule. The first monastery of the Observants in Poland, next “rigorists’ Franciscan, was created in 1453 r. at the foot of the Wawel Castle, at the church of St.. Bernardyna, and Stradomy. Its animator was St.. Jan Kapistran. The congregation was called Bernardine from the name of the mother church. In the noble culture of the Republic of Poland, the brothers signed up as quaestors (e.g.. pcs. A worm from Pan Tadeusz). The word Bernardine has even become synonymous with itinerant fundraiser. From the Bernardines of St. 1605 r. another Franciscan order emerged, again, Of course, closer observers – reformation.
