St. Mary's Basilica (Bazylika Mariacka)- Climbing to the TOP.
After the day of Solidarity, we decided that we should see Gdansk from high up and headed to St. Mary's Basilica to climb the 408 steps to the top.
According to Wikipedia:
St. Mary's is a Roman Catholic church where construction began in 1379. It is the 2nd largest brick church in the world, second only to San Petronio Basilica in Bologna- which loyal readers will know I visited this past summer. In the mid- 1500s, the church was used as both for Catholic and Lutheran services. From the 16th c. to the 1940s, it was the largest Lutheran church in the world. The space inside has enough room for around 25,000 people. Yep, it's big. Very big.
From the outside, the church is big but fairly unremarkable. Even the interior is not that exciting on first glance. Due to destruction during WWII (of course), the Red Army looted the many graves within and burned the church almost to the ground. After the war, the reconstruction began almost immediately.
The church is a good example of late Gothic architecture, with its true beauty within the vaulting. The vaulted ceilings are almost 30 meters high. And remember, I climbed ABOVE that!!! The three aisles and large nave house many masterpieces of art that cover Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque art. The large astronomical clock was built in the 1440s and restored in 1945.
While the church isn't as ornate as St. Nicholas' Basilica (which we visited the day before), it is breathtaking in its size. And, of course, each vault contains fine art and details. It's hard to take it all in.
But we were there for one thing...to climb the 80 meters to the top of the tower.
It was a climb...my FitBit went into overdrive. We were above the vaults, then up even more stairs, past the bells, to finally, a steep narrow few steps through the roof and then...the view!! What a wonderful view. Though it was a bit rainy and windy, the view was still worth the climb.
Check out the pictures below:
According to Wikipedia:
St. Mary's is a Roman Catholic church where construction began in 1379. It is the 2nd largest brick church in the world, second only to San Petronio Basilica in Bologna- which loyal readers will know I visited this past summer. In the mid- 1500s, the church was used as both for Catholic and Lutheran services. From the 16th c. to the 1940s, it was the largest Lutheran church in the world. The space inside has enough room for around 25,000 people. Yep, it's big. Very big.
From the outside, the church is big but fairly unremarkable. Even the interior is not that exciting on first glance. Due to destruction during WWII (of course), the Red Army looted the many graves within and burned the church almost to the ground. After the war, the reconstruction began almost immediately.
The church is a good example of late Gothic architecture, with its true beauty within the vaulting. The vaulted ceilings are almost 30 meters high. And remember, I climbed ABOVE that!!! The three aisles and large nave house many masterpieces of art that cover Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque art. The large astronomical clock was built in the 1440s and restored in 1945.
While the church isn't as ornate as St. Nicholas' Basilica (which we visited the day before), it is breathtaking in its size. And, of course, each vault contains fine art and details. It's hard to take it all in.
But we were there for one thing...to climb the 80 meters to the top of the tower.
It was a climb...my FitBit went into overdrive. We were above the vaults, then up even more stairs, past the bells, to finally, a steep narrow few steps through the roof and then...the view!! What a wonderful view. Though it was a bit rainy and windy, the view was still worth the climb.
Check out the pictures below:
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