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Tourist Information Centre in Oświęcim
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Tourist Information Centre in Oświęcim

The Chapel of St. Jack

The Chapel of St. Jack |
The Chapel of St. Jack
St. Jack's Chapel is the only building that remains from the Dominican monastery complex in Oświęcim. Its erection, like that of other Dominican buildings, was funded by the duke of Oświęcim in the first half of the 14th century. Originally, it had the function of a chapter house, i.e. the place where friars met and debated. In 1594, the chapter house was transformed into the Chapel of St. Jacek Odrowąż, a Polish Dominican friar who had at that time been canonised and become the new patron of the congregation. In the 19th century turned into a storage place for bones and rags. In 1894, the citizens' committee set up by Andrzej Knycz bought the chapel from two Jewish tradesmen. Thanks to the committee, the chapel was restored under the conservational supervision of Professor Odrzywolski and on 19 August 1894, St. Jack's Day, the building was consecrated. By that time the chapel had been partially reconstructed - the vestibule had been pulled down and its rose window placed above the entrance. Besides, the hipped roof had been replaced with a gable roof. Gables with blind windows had been added, windows enlarged anda small bell placed on the roof.
Apart from these changes, the chapel has preserved its Gothic character. It is a two-bay unplastered brick structure, built on a rectangular plan, with buttresses, a cross-ribbed vault, stone ribs and keystones. Nothing from the original fittings and decorations remained, apart from a seventeenth century marble memorialplaque of Mikołaj Mstowski in the chapel wall. During the reconstruction of the ruined Church of the Holy Cross, the bones of the people buried under the church choir were moved into the Chapel.
During the restoration works carried out in 2014-2018, the external walls of the chapel and the roof were renovated, and the restored stained glass windows returned to the inside of the chapel, including the most valuable composition from 1896 depicting the figure of St. Jacek, and restored the splendor of the 16th and 19th century polychromes, which were brought to light from under several layers of plaster.
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