Opole – katedra pw. Znalezienia Krzyża Świętego /Opole – the Cathedral of Finding of the Holy Cross 13
were mentioned by H. Tintelnot [7]. In his opinion, the
church was built under the influence of The Holy Mary
Church na Piasku in Wrocław and it was constructed in
phases during the 15
th
century until the mid-16
th
century.
U. Popłonyk [8] presented the church history, its detailed
description as well as its equipment. The basilica church
from the end of the 13
th
century was changed into a hall
construction after a fire in 1415. According to M. Kornecki
[9], the cathedral in Opole was built following the model
of a church in Namysłów and its body was finished in
1470. Both buildings were covered by one roof including
the eastern polygons which for that purpose were con-
nected by means of vaults. This author [10] stated that in
the eastern part of the towers and the nave body there are
preserved fragments of church walls dated from the end
of the 13
th
century. S. Stulin and A. Włodarek [11, pp. 176,
177] cited the preserved documents. In their opinion the
described church dates back to the first half of the 15
th
century taking into account the western walls from the
end of the 13
th
century. Chapels and vestibules were built
at the turn of the 16
th
century, whereas the vaults in circa
1520 and they were renovated in 1653.
Author’s research results
The church has numerous irregularities in its wall sys-
tem, which proves that it was built in phases or rebuilt
after various disasters. In the south-west part of the nave
body there are two fragments of brick walls
2
along with
a renovated portal from the 13
th
century. The oldest frag-
ment is a part of a tower wall in the Vendian brickwork. It
adjoins the southern nave wall which is 1.44 m thick, it is
unconnected and it has the Gothic brickwork (Fig. 6). The
external face of this wall protrudes from the tower corner.
Before adding buttresses the tower was thicker on its cor-
ners. Similar elements can be noticed, for example, in the
lower part of the parish church tower in Złotoryja [12]
which dates back to the second half of the 13
th
century.
The nave body there is slightly narrower than the towers.
The southern wall of Opole cathedral is slightly moved
outwards in relation to the southern tower line whereas
the northern wall was erected much further from the
northern tower, it is visibly thinner and it is circa 1.00 m
thick.
Both longitudinal walls at a length of almost three bays
(22.30 m in the north and 24 m in the south) have an off-
set at a height of circa 7 m on the northern side and 8.70 m
on the southern side (Fig. 1, 7). Another off-set of the
walls occurs at a height of circa 12 m. In the higher parts
the walls are thinner and connect with the walls of the
eastern part of the church. The longitudinal walls are seg-
mented with pilasters which in the western part were
placed on the thickest lower walls. Two western bays of
the northern aisle were complemented by densely spaced
buttresses which do not absolutely correspond with the
existing pillars. The remaining buttresses of the nave
2
In 2013 it was revealed that fragments of brick walls were cov-
ered with plaster.
nicy. R. Hartmann i H. Eberle [3] opisali istniejący
koś ciół i zaproponowali rekonstrukcję sklepień w ukła-
dzie podobnym do kościołów w Namysłowie i Wrocła-
wiu (NMP na Piasku), czyli gwiaździste w nawie głów-
nej i trójpodporowe w nawach bocznych. Plan i opis
kolegiaty zamieścił H. Tintelnot [7]. Jego zdaniem koś-
ciół powstał pod wpływem kościoła NMP na Piasku we
Wrocławiu, a budowany był etapami w ciągu XV w. do
poł. XVI w. U. Popłonyk [8] przedstawiła dzieje kościo-
ła, jego szczegółowy opis oraz wyposażenie. Kościół ba-
zylikowy z końca XIII w. został przebudowany na halę
po pożarze w 1415 r. Zdaniem M. Korneckiego [9] ka-
tedra w Opolu powstała na wzór kościoła w Namysło-
wie, a ukończenie korpusu nastąpiło w 1470 r. Obie bu-
dowle nakryto jednym dachem razem ze wschodnimi
wielobokami, które w tym celu połączono sklepieniami.
Autor ten [10] stwierdził, że w partii zachodniej wież
i korpusu nawowego zachowały się elementy murów
koś cioła z końca XIII w. S. Stulin i A. Włodarek [11,
s. 176, 177] przytoczyli zachowane dokumenty. Opisa-
ny kościół datowali na 1. poł. XV w., z wykorzystaniem
murów zachodnich z końca XIII w. Kaplice i kruchty po-
wstały na przełomie XV i XVI w., a sklepienia około
1520 r., odnowione zostały w 1653 r.
Wyniki badań autorki
W kościele występują liczne nieregularności w ukła-
dzie murów, świadczące o budowaniu go etapami lub
odbu dowywaniu po kataklizmach. W południowo-za-
chod niej części korpusu nawowego widoczne były dwa
fragmenty murów z cegieł
2
oraz odnowiony portal, po-
chodzące z XIII w. Najstarszy jest fragment muru wieży
o wendyjskim układzie cegieł. Przylegający do niego po-
łudniowy mur nawy o grubości 1,44 m nie jest z nim po-
2
W 2013 r. stwierdzono, że fragmenty ceglanych murów zostały
pokryte tynkiem.
Il. 6. Opole – katedra, wewnętrzny narożnik południowo-zachodni
korpusu i wieży
Fig. 6. Opole – cathedral, inner south-west corner of the body
and the tower