Chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk

Aleksander Piwek

doi:10.37190/arc220301

Abstract

The subject of this article is the chapel located in the former Gdańsk Carmelite monastery complex. The results of the architectural research carried out in it in 2014–2015 are presented. As a result, the time and purpose of the building’s construction were established. The original appearance and traces of later alterations were also recognised. The recesses found on the longitudinal walls, of similar dimensions, not reaching the floor, were considered to be the original decoration of the chapel. Other details, such as the original passage into the church and the west matroneum, also belonged to it. The wide cupboard recesses reaching to the floor were evidence of later changes, also linked to the function of the sacristy. Other changes include a major redesign of the interior at the beginning of the 20th century. This involved the construction of two stone pillars and the installation of vaults on top of them. Recent construction and restoration work has left exposed medieval details, some reconstructed in fragments or even as a whole. Traces of alterations considered secondary have been eliminated. The principle adopted allowed the medieval decoration of the chapel to be shown to a considerable extent for the first time in centuries. The building is one of the most interesting to be found in the city today.

Keywords:
gdańsk
carmelite-monastery
chapel
crypt

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2022

3(71)

Aleksander Piwek*

Chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk

Introduction

Situated in the western part of Gdańsk’s Old Town, the

complex of St. Joseph’s Church of the Missionary Oblates

of Mary Immaculate originally belonged to the Carmelites.

Its oldest parts include the few monastery buildings erect-

ed since 1464, as the monks used the nearby St. George’s

Church at that time. For this reason, the construction of

a new one was not important at rst. Work on the monas-

tic temple began nearly 20 years later (from 1482). Of the

monastery buildings built, including those later, the most

interesting room is the chapel of the (now) Adoration of the

Blessed Sacrament (Fig. 1a). Research and conservation

work began in the chapel in 2014, a year before the anniver-

sary of the establishment of the shrine in the chapel (1964).

As the architectural analysis was undertaken slightly later

than the conservation work, not all the data was available

yet. Nevertheless, hitherto unknown transformations were

revealed, revealing much of the object’s history.

To date, the chapel has either been overlooked in the

literature, or described by stating the presence of pillars

and vaults mounted on them [1], [2]. More informa-

tion was included in a study from 1972–1973 by Han-

na Domańska [3, pp. 19–21]. Some of the details of the

chapel received construction explanations at that time.

Most data currently available about the chapel is included

in the study [4], resulting from the research of the walls

carried out in 2014–2015.

State of preservation

The chapel has a roughly rectangular plan with inter-

nal dimensions of approximately 9.4 (9.5) × 13.6 (13.8) m.

Externally, the north and east walls are not plastered.

The former contains three buttresses. Between them are

wide, sharp-arched windows, with only the rst one on

the east not centrally located. Below the rst window on

the east is an extension. The wall surface to the south of

the third buttress (counting from the east) is set back by

approximately 15 cm. On the outer surface of the eastern

wall, there are two sharp-arched recesses with a two-sided

(hacked-o corner) framing (Fig. 1b). On the south side,

a circular staircase of the church is attached to it, while

on the north side, there is a 2 m high wall, delimiting the

monastery area on this side. There is a narrow vertical

recess between the southern recess and a section of the

semi-circular staircase.

Access to the chapel is provided by passages in the

west and south walls. The rst of these leads from an

adjoining room and also from a narrow corridor (linked

to the monastery courtyard). The second passageway con-

nects to the chancel of the church. Inside the chapel are

two octagonal stone pillars. An elaborate stellar vault is

set on them and on the wall supports. The walls have six

recesses. Three of these are in the north wall, below the

windows. They are topped by simple beams. The recesses

contain suspended radiators. Two further recesses on the

east wall are pointed. The last of the existing recesses, of

a dierent size and reaching the oor, is located in the

south wall. It has a rectangular outline. The oor of the

chapel consists of stone slabs arranged obliquely to the

walls. The only exceptions are a fragment of a rectangu-

lar oor made of planks adjacent to the northern wall and

a circular stone base under the western pillar. Near the

east wall, the oor has two steps, separating the priest’s

area with two altars. The interior of the chapel has the

walls and vaulted ceilings covered with plaster and paint-

ed with whitewash, while the vault ribs are reddish brown

and the supports are grey.

A basement is located in the eastern part of the chapel.

It can be accessed via two entrances – from the interior

– in the oor, against the north wall (obscured by a wood-

en trapdoor) and from the exterior – through an extension.

DOI: 10.37190/arc220301

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

ORCID: 0000-0001-9487-5091. Faculty of Architecture, Gdańsk

University of Technology, Poland, e-mail: apiw@pg.edu.pl

4 Aleksander Piwek

The basement is covered by a brick barrel. On the south

side, it has an additional room with a corridor facing the

chancel. The south-western part of the interior is lled in

by brickwork reaching the key of the brick covering.

Findings

The architectural analysis of the external surfaces of

the walls brought some information about the history of

the building, but much more was obtained by carrying out

work in the interior of the chapel (Figs. 2, 3). The scope

of the research undertaken was limited mainly to areas

where the original plaster had not survived. In addition

to fragmentary modern and younger painting decorations,

conservators found medieval (consecration crosses) dec-

orations on them. The original function of the described

interior was therefore sacred, located within the present

chapel space.

The northern wall

It is built of bricks: 29–30.5

13–13.5

7.8–8.3 cm.

The three buttresses, unrelated to this wall, were erected

with machine-made bricks: 29–31–31.5

7.5–8 cm.

The height of the 10 bricks measured vertically with mor-

tar (hereafter 10c) is 96 cm. This material has the dimen-

sions of medieval bricks. It is known from the history of

the building that it was regothicised at the beginning of the

century. Hence, the buttresses were built at that time.

The hacked o outer face of the wall near the entrance to

the corridor and the approximately 20 cm wide vertical

strip on the nearby buttress is a trace of the narrowing of

the wall. This was done to make a short section of the chap-

el wall face the adjacent room. According to documenta-

tion produced in 1947 [5], the protrusion of the chapel was

still present. It provided indirect evidence of the chapel’s

priority over the north wall of the adjoining room

Only the third window from the east on the west side

provided some information about the architecture of the

Gothic windows. The bricks exposed above the sill con-

tain fragmentary surviving Gothic moulding (Fig. 4a).

A small fault with traces of thin plaster ran deep into

the wall from the face of the wall. The inner parts of the

fault were hacked o, so it is not known whether it still

contained additional decoration. From an analysis of the

better-preserved window decoration of the nearby old-

er sacred refectory [7], it can be assumed that there was

a shaft in the fault. The glyphs present behind this fault

were created by hacking o the corners of the plain wall

to give them neo-Gothic forms, considered more appro-

priate for medieval chapel architecture in the early 20

century than the plain wall.

An architectural analysis carried out on the inner side

of the north wall revealed a considerable number of verti-

cal grouts, connected to each other by segmental arches

(Fig. 3a). The parts thus separated were found to be mason-

ry of seven recesses. Three types were found among them.

The rst belonged to the rst, second, fth, sixth and seventh

recesses (counting from the east wall) (Fig. 4a). They were

88–91 cm wide and 75–78 cm deep. The caps of the arches

reached a height of 210–220 cm, while the edges of the base

were 90 cm high (from the oor level). In recess ve, the

side walls (at the height of the fth layer of bricks from its

base) have a groove made up of two sloping walls. This is

a remnant of a shelf. The recesses mentioned are original

and date from the Middle Ages. They have been bricked up

A dierent view, based on the length of the excavated arch foun-

dation: [6, p. 196].

Fig. 1. Location of the chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk:

a) fragment of a city plan (1866–1869) (source: BG PAN CIII 610), b) view from the north-eastern side (photo by A. Piwek)

Il. 1. Lokalizacja kaplicy przy kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku:

a) fragment planu miasta (1866–1869) (źródło: BG PAN CIII 610), b) widok od strony północno-wschodniej (fot. A. Piwek)

a b

 ChapelatSt.Joseph’sChurchinGdańsk 5

with bricks 13.0–14.3–15

7–7.5–8 cm forming thin walls.

As stated, they were bricked up in the 17

century except

for the sixth one (early 20

century). The third one (to the

east), marked by grouts 449 and 609 cm away from the east

wall, belongs to the second type of recesses. It diers from

the aforementioned by its width (160 cm) and the fact that it

reaches the oor. It was topped by a segmental arch starting

at 219 cm. As no traces were found on the outside of the wall

that could be associated with this recess, despite its consid-

erable dimensions, it was never a passage

. The

creation of

At the time of the analysis, it was not possible to inspect the exte-

rior surface of the north wall. As it turns out, it was wrongly thought at

Fig. 2. Stratification of the walls

of the chapel at St. Joseph’s

Church

in Gdańsk on the ground

floor (below the windows)

and in the basement.

The letter “d” indicates

the extent of the wooden trapdoor,

different from the stone floor

of the chapel.

Markings: 1 – late 15

century,

2 – 17

century,

3 – 18

century,

4 – after 1840, 5 – 1901–1920,

6 – 1945–2019

(elaborated by A. Piwek)

Il. 2. Rozwarstwienie ścian

kaplicy przy kościele św. Józefa

w Gdańsku na parterze

(poniżej okien) i w piwnicy.

Literą „d” oznaczono odmienny

od kamiennej posadzki kaplicy

zasięg drewnianej klapy.

Oznaczenia: 1 – koniec XV w.,

2 – XVII w.,

3 – XVIII w.,

4 – po 1840 r.,

5 – lata 1901–1920,

6 – 1945–2019

(oprac. A. Piwek)

chancel

6 Aleksander Piwek

(west of it) from the bricks created in the 17

century

(east of the grout). The former include a small fragment of

the arch above the present one, while the latter include the

damaged present arch and, on the east side of the recess,

the three lower layers of bricks. Above these, the bricks

date from the mid-19

century and form a walling. Above

20 cm from the base, the west side wall contains a sloping

groove, the remains of a shelf. This recess did not dier

in appearance from the original ones in the Gothic period.

In the modern

period, it was transformed into a smaller one,

probably helpful for the setting an oil lamp to illuminate the

the large recess dates to the mid-19

century. Its mason-

ry, consisting of machine-made bricks: 14

6–6.3 cm,

should be referred to the early 20

century. The third type

is presented by the fourth recess. It begins at a height of

130 cm. At its western edge, the lower layers of bricks are

medieval. Above them, at a distance of 15–25 cm from

the edge, runs a grout, which separates the Gothic bricks

the time that, since similar marks in the opposite wall referred to a pas-

sage, it should also be found on this one [4, p. 4].

Fig. 3. View of the surface

of the internal walls of the chapel

at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk

with marked traces of

reconstructions: a) northern,

b) southern, c) western

(elaborated by A. Piwek)

Il. 3. Widok powierzchni ścian

wewnętrznych kaplicy przy

kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku

z zaznaczonymi odkrytymi

śladami przebudów: a) północnej,

b) południowej, c) zachodniej

(oprac. A. Piwek)

 ChapelatSt.Joseph’sChurchinGdańsk 7

about by the already described examination of the exte-

rior surface of the north wall. Damage to the medieval

recesses indicates that the windows were set higher than

at present. The rst window on the west side probably dif-

fered from the others. This may have been inuenced by

the previously mentioned dierent interior layout at this

location, which was more precisely determined during the

examination of the west wall.

The rectangular recesses of the windows that were dis-

covered during the analysis damaged, to varying degrees,

all the other recesses with segmental arches. They are

among the last work to be carried out in the 20

centu-

ry in order to improve the conditions for the believers,

whose numbers increased signicantly after the sanctuary

was established in the chapel (1964). For that purpose,

radiators were installed.

East wall

From the measurements taken of the exterior of the

chapel’s east wall, it is known to have been built of bricks

measuring: 30

12.2–12.5–13.5

6.5–7.0, 10c

96 cm.

The backgrounds of the two recesses present with the

rest of the wall are bonded

. There is an irregular grout

between a section of the semi-circular staircase of the

chancel and the chapel, in a narrow cavity, indicative

of the dierent times of their construction. This is also

conrmed by the building material of the chancel consist-

ing of bricks measuring: 29–29.5–30

13–13.5

7.7–

8–8.2 cm, 10c

98.5 cm. The gable wall of the chapel

contains clearly outlined re-building with machine-made

bricks mostly about 70 cm above the recesses. These are

the result of construction work undertaken probably in the

century.

They cannot, therefore, be regarded as window bricks, as marked

in the 1947 inventory [5].

interior. Its bricking up in the 18

century caused partial

damage. The medieval recesses were not laid out identically.

They started 218 cm from the east wall and then occurred

every 50 cm or so. The two western recesses had a greater

spacing, reaching 131 cm. This disruption indicates an inte-

rior disposition that was dierent in the north-western part

than in the rest of the chapel.

Further traces on the wall are spatially related to the

interior of the chapel. These include the quarter circular

niche found (Fig. 4b) between the bricked up recesses of

the second and third (from the west wall). It runs horizon-

tally through their bases and is 30 cm high. It penetrates

into the wall from 9.5 cm (on the eastern side) to 14.5 cm

(on the western side). As it is close to the trapdoor cover-

ing the exit to the underground, it is most likely associat-

ed with it. Further traces include two rectangular niches

lled with bricks probably dating from the 1

quarter of

the 17

century. They are 20 cm wide, 59 cm high, and

start at 885 cm and 1,340 cm from the present eastern wall

at a height of 146 cm above the oor. They were created

in the Middle Ages and are only associated with the north

wall

. The last traces include two vertical strips 20 cm

wide of machine-made bricks, narrowing the second and

seventh recesses to the west. These covered the vertical

channels forged in the wall (to a depth of about 20 cm).

Soot marks were found on their surfaces. They are there-

fore associated with the addition of furnaces to the wall in

the early 20

century.

From the interior of the chapel, additional information

was also obtained about the windows – this was brought

In the course of the research work, a hypothesis was put forward

linking them to the projected vaulting of the chapel [4, pp. 4, 5]. How-

ever, one of the reasons why it is not possible to nd an analogous recess

in the south wall is that the architectural layout there is arranged dier-

ently. Due to the impossibility of excavating the western wall at a similar

height, the possibility of a similar recess (or recesses) there too cannot be

dismissed at present, although it is rather unlikely.

Fig. 4. Discoveries in the northern wall of the chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk:

a) a fragment of the first window from the west, b) three recesses; between two of them (on the left) there is a quarter circular indentation in the wall,

c) a recess in the south wall, in the 2

half of the 17

century, which was a passage to the chancel (photo by A. Piwek)

Il. 4. Odkrycia w ścianie północnej kaplicy przy kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku:

a) fragment okna pierwszego od zachodu, b) trzy wnęki; między dwiema (po lewej stronie) ćwierćkoliste wcięcie w murze,

c) wnęka w ścianie południowej, w 2. połowie XVII w. będąca przejściem do prezbiterium (fot. A. Piwek)

a cb

8 Aleksander Piwek

The last trace on the south wall is near the third vault

bracket from the east (Fig. 4b). Vertical ripped grouts

were found at 797 and 893 cm from the east wall. They

started at a height of 236 cm from the oor. From above,

they ended with a horizontally placed beam 8 cm high.

Traces of its setting were found 390 cm from the oor.

The re-building thus delineated contained 6.5–7

bricks on mortar containing clay. It was associated with

the entrance to the level of the pulpit set on the chancel

side. The stairs leading up to it had to be adjacent to the

wall in order to cause as little disturbance as possible to

the faithful gathered inside the chapel. The opening must

have been forged before 1678, when the associated pulpit

was destroyed.

West wall

At a distance of 200 cm from the oor, the base of

a segmental arch was exposed, which “blended” into the

north wall (Fig. 4c). Based on its curvature (the highest

point was 150 cm from the north wall), it appears that the

arch was 300 cm long. Below it, the wall contains bricks

measuring: 29.5–29.9

13.5–14–15.5

7–7.5–8–8.5,

10c

89 cm. The arch should be associated with a medi-

eval recess. It is highly likely that its background had

a passage. The bricked up recesses are associated with the

removal of the medieval matroneum, which presumably

took place in the 1

quarter of the 17

century. Above the

described arch, two vertical grouts were found. They were

found at 123 and 244 cm from the north wall

. They started

at 325 cm from the oor level and ended at 508 cm to con-

nect with the segmental arch. Within the area thus delin-

eated were machine-made bricks measuring 25 ×

12.2–

12.2

6.7–6.8 cm, 10c

81 cm. These form the masonry

of the Gothic entrance made in the 20

century. Further

analysis revealed that from this entrance (oor level), it

was possible to access the now collapsed, one-ight stairs

(Fig. 5). These were adjacent to the west wall. They were

covered by a brick arch with a hacked-o corner, descend-

ing towards the south. An examination of the passage in

the west wall to the adjoining room revealed a fragment of

the Gothic arch on the north side. It therefore belonged to

the original layout of the chapel. Its present irregular cop-

ing is the result of 17

–18

century alterations.

Chapel vaults

From the examination of the ribs of the present chapel

covering and the traces at the wall embedments (machine-

made bricks), it is clear that the vaults are not authen-

tic. They should be traced back to the 19

or early 20

century. This is conrmed by Domańska’s research [3,

p. 11], which dates the creation of the eastern pillar to

1900–1901. The fact that two dierent heads appear on

the pillar shafts suggests that they were reused. The fact

A 6.5 cm high eld of machine-made bricks was found between

the southern grout and another irregular grout 313 cm away from the

northern wall. This was considered to be a re-building carried out in the

half of the 20

century [4, p. 7].

Examination carried out inside the chapel, in the north-

east corner, revealed the absence of a bond between the

east wall and the north wall. The same was true in the

southern part of the eastern wall, at a distance of 78 cm

from the south-eastern corner. This conrms the secondary

nature of the east wall in relation to the longitudinal walls.

South wall

On its surface, three pairs of vertical grouts were found,

connected by segmental arches (Fig. 4c). In terms of shape,

they were similar to those recesses in the north wall,

which were classied as type one. There were not very

large dierences between them in terms of dimensions:

spacing, base height (167–176 cm), cap height (here 167–

176 cm) and depth (70 cm). One reason for this state of

aairs may be the priority of the commencement of the

construction (perhaps the completion) of the large chapel

(the present chancel) in the Middle Ages. The masonry of

the recesses varied. The rst to the east contained uniform

brick material throughout its depth, probably dating from

the 17

century. The interior of the second to the east,

along a length of 29 cm, had an early 20

century solid

brick inll. It was created to vent smoke through a verti-

cal channel (40

90 cm) forged in the wall. The bricks

obscuring its section from above contained traces of soot.

The third recess, near the west wall, was walled up with

a thin wall of machine-made bricks after 1945.

At distances of 438 and 593 cm from the east wall,

a rectangular masonry reaching the oor was found, 263 cm

high, composed of post-1945 machine-made bricks. When

it was removed, a recess 16 cm narrower (on each side)

was revealed, with a plastered segmental arch reaching

228 cm

(Fig. 4c). It resembled the second type of recess

from the north wall. The walls on which the arch was

supported were partially hacked o (at 16 cm). The back-

ground of the recess had another masonry. It consisted

of 26–26.5

12.5–13.5

6.5 cm machine-made bricks.

Almost all of them were plastered. The front of the arch

was obscured by a 9 cm high beam facing the wall. There

was a vertical grout 40 cm from the southern edge of the

recess. There was also a similar one on the opposite side.

These indicate the forging of a passage into the chancel.

It was created probably in the 17

century. Then, it was

bricked up on the chancel side at the beginning of the 20

century. On the side of the chapel, the side walls have had

their surface hacked o. The intention was to widen the

resulting recess to make room for a wide rectangular cup-

board with a wooden frame secured from above by a thin

beam. Bright horizontal stripes (less dusty than the oth-

er surfaces) were found on the fragments of the plastered

transverse partitions. It is thus known that the cupboard

had ve shelves. Their lower surfaces were found at the

following heights from the oor: 39, 84, 129, 179 (top

surface) and 215 cm. The passage with the fault between

the two bricked-up western recesses was the original one,

connecting the small chapel with the large one (the future

chancel). It must be assumed that its further fate was inter-

changeably linked with the previously described passage

forged in the 17

century in the same wall.

 ChapelatSt.Joseph’sChurchinGdańsk 9

that the vault is partially obscured by the northern part of

the coping of the matroneum entrance also suggests that

the vault is not authentic.

According to the plan of the monastery complex made

by Bartel Ranisch [8] in 1695, the interior of the chapel

had four vault elds, each with two intersecting barrels

(with ribs?). It was supported by one square in the plan of

the support and wall pillars. However, no such elements

were found during the examination of the north and south

walls. In addition, the chapel actually has one more span

than is shown on the plan. The drawn pillar in the interior

is therefore not reliable.

The motif of one pillar in the chapel was undoubtedly

used, however. This seems to be conrmed by the circu-

lar (?) stone foundation in the oor only under the rst

pillar from the west. It is much larger than the base set

on it. It was probably the base of another earlier support.

This could only have happened in the medieval period

and is clearly linked to the matroneum which was built

at that time.

Basement

The extension with steps leading to the basement was

made of machine-made bricks. Its absence on the doc-

umentation made after the World War II [5] indicates

a recent time of construction. The entrance to the base-

ment has an eastern border with a preserved brick face,

while the western border has been hacked o. The rea-

son for this condition can be seen from the exterior of

the wall. A brick bevel runs in the thickness of the wall

here. The adjacent, fragmentary east wall has a surviv-

ing face. These traces indicate a slanted basement win-

dow. From the preserved traces

, it is known that it was

80 cm wide and about 120 cm high. Its lack of re-building

points to the Gothic period. It was turned into a passage

when the passage to the basement was forged. Its frequent

use, associated with its conversion to a farm storeroom,

occurred at the beginning of the 20

century. The need for

convenient access must therefore be referred to this time.

The walls of the basement were made of bricks measur-

ing: 29.5–30–31 × 13–13.5 × 7–7.5–8.5, 10c = 98.5 cm.

At a distance of 90 cm from the ground (the bottom of the

basement), the walls contain a small fault, and above it

a row of hacked o stones about 10 cm high laid on a sand

bed. These formerly formed the paving of the original

room. The masonry present in the south-western part of

the basement, consisting of two dierent blocks, appeared

to be secondary (Fig. 6a). The larger one reaching the

walls was not connected to them, nor was the smaller one

protruding from its corner and occupying the central part

of the basement. This smaller block has bricks measuring

29.0–30 × 13.5 × 7–7.5 cm, 10c = 93 cm. It was formerly

Several elements of it have survived to date. These include the

small remains of a lunette in the barrel vault associated with a window,

small fragments of the side walls in the thickness of the wall, a brick

diagonally set overhang and a few bricks of the arch in the face of the

chapel’s north wall.

a free-standing pillar

. The stated dimensions of the

bricks from which it was built would indicate a medie-

val period. However, the recorded time of its construction

(1900–1901) recties this observation [3, p. 11].

At the beginning of the 20

century, restoration work

was undertaken on the chapel using new material of histor-

ic dimensions, so using only the size of the bricks in dat-

ing is not authoritative. The measurements of the ground

oor of the chapel show that the pillar was located at the

base of the rst pillar to the east. The plastered room

on the south wall contains a slanting wall and the entrance

to a vaulted, also plastered, corridor. Its exit is in the oor

of the chancel. From the entrance, which was pierced

(east side), and its location next to the vault, it is clear that

the corridor was created later than the basement. It prob-

ably dates back to the 18

century. The segmental arches

This condition was still recorded in the 1947 inventory [5].

The authors of the 1947 inventory do not know it although they

give not only the size of the passage but also the dimensions of the room

[5]. It was 160 × 475 cm.

Fig. 5. A section of a partially buried descent from the level

of the former matroneum to the ground floor

of the chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk

(photo by A. Piwek)

Il. 5. Fragment częściowo zasypanego zejścia z poziomu dawnej

empory do parteru kaplicy w kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku

(fot. A. Piwek)

10 Aleksander Piwek

of the brick covering were half covered by a bricked-up

wall narrowing the passageway to 48–60 cm (Fig. 6b). It

was probably made in the 20

century.

Located at the north wall of the basement, the communi-

cation passage, 140 cm wide, contains steps (24 × 22 cm)

leading to the ground oor of the chapel. It is covered

with fault arches. It was built of 29–30 × 14 × 7–7.5 cm

bricks, 10c = 90 cm. It belongs to the original architecture

of the chapel.

History of construction and transformation

The small chapel adjacent to the church has a rich hi -

story. This resulted not only from the demand of the

Carmelites, but also from the later administrators of the

monastic complex (parish priests, oblate fathers). Histori-

cal events, including those of a socio-religious nature, that

took place in Gdańsk also had a certain inuence. From

the analysis of the found re-buildings, it is possible to dis-

tinguish six phases related to the construction and chang-

es considered necessary at a given time. Their impact on

the architecture and decoration of the chapel varied from

signicant architectural transformations to minor ones in

artistic decoration.

Phase 1 (late 15

century)

After the Carmelites moved from the Young City, de-

molished in 1464, to the present site, between 1482 and

1496, the monks erected the large chapel of St. Elijah and

St. Elisha (later the chancel of the larger establishment).

Probably during or a little later, they also proceeded

to build a small, rectangular-plan building with a sacred

purpose

. It was adjacent to the north wall of the exist-

ing building. Consecration crosses were painted on its

plastered walls. The simultaneous construction of two

religious buildings next to each other seems unnecessary

given the small size of the monastery at the time. It is

understandable, however, if one accepts the continuation

of the cult of St. Eric

by the Carmelites at this time and

the construction of a new chapel for him. The monks thus

maintained the earlier commitments they had made when

the monastery was still being built in the Young City.

The building roughly followed the outline of the pres-

ent Chapel of Perpetual Adoration. Three passages led

to its interior (Fig. 7a). One of them, in the western part

of the south wall, provided a connection with the large

chapel. The second was nearby, but in the west wall. It

led to a smaller adjoining room (sacristy?). The third pas-

sage was in the northern part of the west wall. It was not

connected to the monastery buildings. It allowed access

to the utility courtyard. As it seems, the earlier buildings

of the refectory [11] or presumably the kitchen may have

already stood there

The longitudinal walls of the small chapel contained

recesses with segmental arches, which could have been

The most recent publication still supports the thesis that the chapel

(identied at least in part with the adjacent sacristy) is older than the

chancel [6, p. 196].

The time of interest in the cult of the Swedish saint, dating back

to the Thirteen Years’ War (1454–1466) at the latest, has been covered in

[9, p. 151]. If future architectural ndings are conrmed, it would have

to be extended to the end of the 15

century or even the beginning of the

century. On the Carmelites’ links with St. Eric see [10].

This is uncertain because archaeological investigations have uncov-

ered some foundations generally dating back to the 15

century [6, p. 197].

Fig. 6. Underground parts connected with the chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk:

a) a view of the interior of the crypt under the eastern part of the chapel towards the south,

b) a fragment of the present corridor connecting the former crypt with the chancel (photo by A. Piwek)

Il. 6. Części podziemne związane z kaplicą przy kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku:

a) widok wnętrza krypty pod partią wschodnią kaplicy w kierunku południowym,

b) fragment obecnego korytarza łączącego dawną kryptę z prezbiterium (fot. A. Piwek)

a b

 ChapelatSt.Joseph’sChurchinGdańsk 11

used as a library and storage for precious devotional objects.

The north wall contained seven recesses along its entire

length (Fig. 7b). The opposite wall of the small chapel

probably had four recesses (the rst one on the east side is

presumed), but, as analysis [4, p. 5] has shown they could

only have started at a length of about 3.5 m from the then

east wall. The west wall was devoid of similar recesses.

Instead, it contained one-ight stairs enclosed by a vaulted

brick ight of segmental arches with chamfering. They led

to the matroneum in the sacred interior

. The matroneum

was supported by a single pillar, the axes of which were

about 4.5 m from the longitudinal walls and about 4.2 m

from the west wall. Below the matroneum, in the northern

part of this wall, there was a 3 m long recess surmounted

by a segmental arch. The aforementioned passage to the

utility courtyard was probably inside it.

The interior of the small chapel was covered by a ceil-

ing. Lighting was probably provided by ve sharp-arched

windows

. Three of them were in the north wall, the oth-

er two in the east wall. The windows were set about 50

higher than the present ones. They did not have glyphs

on the periphery and a slanting sill on the outside. The

decoration on the side of the utility courtyard was formed

by a shaft set in a fault. At least these two elements (and

perhaps also the cross wall) were covered with thin plas-

ter. On the interior of the chapel, the windows were prob-

As it has not yet been possible to examine the wall with the stair-

case on the west side, it cannot be ruled out that the chapel may not

originally have had a matroneum.

An analysis of the later recesses of the east wall and the window

decoration of a building older than the chapel – the monastery refectory

– is helpful in establishing the window decoration on the interior side,

the original interior mouldings and sills [7].

ably decorated with a small bevel. Against the east wall,

between the windows, was an altar, possibly dedicated to

the Swedish saint.

The small chapel in the eastern part had a crypt. The

exit to it was located in the north-western part, just inside

the north wall. It was covered by a trapdoor in the oor. As

is to be presumed, for safety reasons in order to illuminate

this part of the interior of the chapel, darkened because of

the matroneum, two rectangular oil lamp recesses(?) were

formed in the north wall. Not far from them was a trap-

door opening mechanism. It probably consisted of a table

xed in the quarter circular undercut of the wall between

the second and third recesses (west side) and gears. The

descent led to a narrow arched corridor with steps. It con-

nected to a rectangular room set transversely to the longi-

tudinal walls of the chapel. It contained a single window

in the north gable wall. It was shaped just below the vault.

The interior was covered by a barrel vault with a large

lunette connected to the entrance to the passageway and

a smaller one to the north window. The oor was made up

of irregular stone slabs. Initially, in the absence of a sep-

arate place for the confraternity of St. Eric, the crypt may

have been used as a meeting place for its members, and

after the disappearance of the cult of this saint, as a buri-

al crypt. The small chapel at ground level, on the west

side, in addition to being connected to the sacristy (?) of

the large chapel, may have had a connection with another

room, forming part of the monastery.

Phase 2 (17

century)

The rst changes to the architecture of the small chapel

(phase 1) resulted from the social and religious turmoil

and restrictions that intensied in Gdańsk after 1522.

Fig. 7. Reconstruction of the chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk and the crypt located under its eastern part from phase 1 (late 15

century):

a) plan, b) longitudinal section with view on the north wall,

1 – presumed range of the Gothic matroneum, 2 – the range of the crypt and the descent to its interior,

M – hypothetical location of the mechanism enabling the opening of the trapdoor covering the descent to the crypt, d – trapdoor

(elaborated by A. Piwek)

Il. 7. Rekonstrukcja kaplicy przy kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku i znajdującej się pod jej częścią wschodnią krypty z etapu I (koniec XV w.):

a) rzuty, b) przekrój podłużny z widokiem na ścianę północną,

1 – przypuszczalny zasięg gotyckiej empory, 2 – zakres krypty i zejścia do jej wnętrza,

M – hipotetyczna lokalizacja mechanizmu umożliwiającego otwarcie klapy przysłaniającej zejście do krypty, d – klapa

(oprac. A. Piwek)

a b

12 Aleksander Piwek

As a result of these, the Carmelite monastery was repeat-

edly destroyed. The chapel was burnt down and its walls

partially damaged. The repair work carried out at the

beginning of the 17

century consisted of building a new

eastern wall, moved towards the east by the thickness of

the destroyed one. In order to prevent future damage from

Protestants attacking the monastery from the street, sharp-

arched recesses were probably built in the axes of the old

windows in the east wall, and they were repeated on the

interior side of the chapel. The form of the recesses was

intended to imitate the earlier openings.

After the extension of the large chapel in 1623 with

a double-span west hall, it was decided (around 1636) to

add a new pulpit. It was set on the north wall of the chap-

el area, in the second span (east side), against the dou-

ble-span east lesene. As it was to be accessed from the

small chapel, the necessary work was carried out there.

This consisted of punching a rectangular opening in the

separating wall (the entrance to the pulpit). The associat-

ed steps were placed on the east side. For this reason, the

fourth recess on the west side (if it was previously built)

and probably the third recess were bricked up. The matro-

neum had to be removed at this time. The entrance on

the upper part of the west wall was bricked up. The large

recess in the matroneum was also removed, thus elimi-

nating the entrance to the courtyard. It became redundant,

probably due to the enlargement of the adjacent sacristy.

The small annex below the steps was probably incorpo-

rated into the sacristy. It was illuminated by a window in

the north wall. The two narrow oil lamp recesses(?) were

also removed. They were replaced by a larger one, which

was created by reducing an earlier recess with a segmen-

tal arch. The location of the resulting recess was advanta-

geous because, being halfway along its length, it provided

good lighting for the entire interior.

In the 2

half of the 17

century, a tumult took place

(1678) during intensied clashes between Protestants and

Catholics. It caused considerable damage to the church’s

decoration. For example, the pulpit in the church was

destroyed. The repair work undertaken by the Carmelites

between 1679 and 1681 also aected the architecture of

the chapel (phase 2). It was decided to place the new pul-

pit, dating from 1680, in a dierent position than before

– at the rainbow arch. This location was chosen to improve

the reception of sermons in the church, which extended by

almost half of its previous length. The entrance to the old

pulpit was bricked up as unnecessary. At the same time, the

wooden steps tied to it were removed. This made it possi-

ble to rebuild a hypothetical medieval recess into a new

passage to the chancel. This action made it necessary

to replace the old entrance in the south wall with a cup-

board. Most of the medieval recesses were also bricked up.

The chapel was converted into a sacristy. It is not known

whether it also partly retained its sacred function.

Phase 3 (18

century)

Reconstruction of the sacristy probably occurred in the

century, although it is currently impossible to exclude

an earlier occurrence. The architectural work included

the construction of an underground corridor between the

crypt and the eastern part of the chancel. It was covered by

a segmental vault. The descent into the chancel was done

by raising a horizontal partition (trapdoor, panel?). It was

located in the north-eastern part of the chancel. A carved

opening in its south wall led to the crypt. As it was located

right next to the vault, there must undoubtedly have been

steps placed next to it. The dierence in height between

the oors of the corridor and the crypt (approx. 114 cm)

suggests that there may have been six of them. The cre-

ation of the underground communication was intended to

make the crypt active for those who could not nancially

aord to build their own tomb, but still wanted to be buried

at the Carmelites. Between the 17

and late 18

centuries,

there were ve small crypts in the central part of the chan-

cel. They were between 2.6 m and 4.3 m long and between

1.3 m and 3.4 m wide [6, p. 201]. In the 2

half of the

century, the number of burials increased so much that

the construction solution used seemed optimal. One can

also surmise from this, the much less frequent use of the

crypt entrance on the chapel side. This seems to have been

motivated by the reactivation of the sacred function in the

sacristy. An altar to Our Lady of the Scapular was placed

inside

. It was an object of worship not only for the faith-

ful, but also for the worshippers of the Holy Scapular

organised in a confraternity [12] taking care of the chapel.

Phase 4 (after 1840)

After ten years of abandonment of the monastic foun-

dation by the last Carmelite in 1830, a parish was created.

The church was given the name of St. Joseph. The change

of management and administration of the former site led

to minor alterations to the existing chapel. The introduc-

tion of the sacristy function necessitated the creation of

space mainly for liturgical vestments. The south cupboard

was probably of little use due to its size and the votive

oerings it contained. It was therefore decided to create

another one. To this end, the oil lamp recess(?) in the

north wall was bricked up, and a nearby medieval recess

was carved out to create a cupboard recess with a seg-

mental arch. It was located opposite the entrance in the

south wall to the chancel, creating an axial composition

simulating a homogeneous artistic solution.

Phase 5 (1900–1920)

The radical reconstruction of the sacristy took place

between 1900 and 1901, and it was probably already en-

visaged that it would return to its sacred function. It was

decided to give the interior a grandiose Gothic décor. Two

octagonal stone pillars were therefore inserted into it. The

west pillar was placed in place of the historic one, while the

east pillar was placed on the barrel of the basement. The

latter, in order to prevent a building disaster, was support-

ed by a brick pillar set in the crypt, on a oor that had been

The cult of Our Lady of the Scapular in the Carmelite Order

actually began from 1564 [9, p. 134].

 ChapelatSt.Joseph’sChurchinGdańsk 13

deepened by 1 metre. The lowered level of the oor there

made it necessary to add new steps to the old ones (lead-

ing to the ground oor level), maintaining the previous

direction. On the pillars of the chapel, six vaulted areas

were created, each with an extended star-shaped plan. It was

probably at this time that cracks appeared in the west wall,

below the north-west vault. Some of these were re-built to

stabilise them. The cupboard recess in the north wall was

removed. The south aisle was converted into a two-door

cupboard, after a slight demoulding of the side walls and

partial bricking up. The old entrance at the west wall was

activated. Probably at that time, the windows were wid-

ened and glyphs were created by hacking o sections of

the wall. The north wall of the chapel was reinforced (if

not in 1916) with three buttresses. In 1904, furnace heating

was established in the interior [13] (Fig. 8a).

From the locations in the longitudinal walls of the ues,

it is known that two of them were positioned against the

north wall and one against the south wall. At the former,

the furnace stood at the west end. As the section between

the west wall and the nearby recess in the north wall was

shorter than the width of the furnace, the recess had to

be bricked up in order to form the ue without diculty.

The second furnace was positioned to the north of the east

window (the rst on this side), parallel to the wall. As in

the case described, use was made of the existing recess,

running part of the channel associated with the furnace in

its cavity. At the south wall, the furnace was positioned to

the east of the second recess (west side). Here, too, a ue

ran through the recess and occupied the eastern part. With

this layout, an attempt was made to disrupt the existing

interior as little as possible. The alternate positioning of

the furnaces made it possible to heat the chapel relatively

uniformly. The necessary fuel for them was stored in the

basement, presumably in a separate small rectangular inte-

rior against the south wall. In order to make access easier

and not to interfere with the sacred activities, the north

window of the basement was turned into an entrance. It

was located at a considerable height above the basement

oor. Several steps had to be added to it. It also became

necessary to add an external staircase, as the ground level

was above the newly formed entrance.

During the renovations of the church in 1920, the inte-

rior of the chapel was artistically enriched (Fig. 8b). The

walls were painted in two stripes imitating – in the low-

er one – a curtain wall, while in the upper one – stone

walls. The vaults were also decorated with oral motifs

(the vaulting drains, keystones and their nearest parts).

The ribs were covered with a thin brick-coloured plaster

with the introduction of painted white divisions to imi-

tate the rhythm of the laid bricks. Signicant furnishings

included, against the east wall, two altars associated with

the cults of Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Joseph dat-

ing from 1730 [14, p. 131]. Between them was a carved

baptismal font from 1750 [14, p. 136]. A row of pews for

the believers stood against the north wall.

Phase 6 (1945–2019)

Phase 1 refers to the condition of the church immedi-

ately after the World War II. The destruction of the vaults

in the chancel was probably the cause of the damage to the

corridor leading to the basement. Additional walls were

added to secure it. Narrowed in this way to 48–50 cm, it

took on the characteristics of a utility passage. After 1947,

two smaller interiors were separated by a diagonal wall in

a room against the south wall of the basement. The west-

ern one, intended for storage, had a connection to the base-

ment. A narrow corridor provided access to the eastern

one, which was probably also used for storage. In order

Fig. 8. The chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk in the early 20

century:

a) reconstruction of the plan from 1904 (p – location of furnaces) (elaborated by A. Piwek),

b) view of the interior towards the south-east, circa 1920 (source: [14, p. 127])

Il. 8. Kaplica przy kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku w początku XX w.:

a) rekonstrukcja planu z 1904 r. (p – lokalizacja pieców) (oprac. A. Piwek),

b) widok wnętrza w kierunku południowo-wschodnim, stan z ok. 1920 r. (źródło: [14, s. 127])

a b

14 Aleksander Piwek

to strengthen the previously free-standing pillar in the ba -

sement, the space between it and the utility room and the

west wall of the basement was lled with bricks.

The post-war period was not conducive to expensive

work. The wall painting was abandoned and the walls and

vaults were whitewashed. With the exception of the rst

recess in the south wall to the west, all were bricked up.

This was also removed shortly afterwards. A cupboard in

the south wall, considered redundant, was treated in the

same way. The furnaces were dismantled, leaving only the

one in the north-west corner as the least intrusive to the

perception of the interior. The chapel was used temporarily

as a sacristy.

Phase 2, covering the years 1964–2013, followed the

establishment of the cult of Perpetual Adoration of the

Blessed Sacrament in the chapel (1964). The work under-

taken during this time was to improve the use of the

chapel. The previously planned (1947) creation of a nar-

row vaulted corridor [5] from the steps in the western wall

was not completed until 1972. At that time, a window

was carved into its north wall, creating a passage to the

courtyard. It was probably at this time that the bricked up

entrance to the former matroneum was replaced. In the

1980s, furnace heating ceased to be used. Instead, a oor

heating system was installed. Rectangular recesses were

cut in the north wall, about 20 cm above the oor, into

which radiators were inserted.

Phase 3 is the result of the 2014–2015 research. The

medieval period was taken as the basic time for the new

architectural decoration of the walls. In some justied

cases, this principle was deviated from. The radiator

recesses were removed. Bricked-up recesses with segmen-

tal archways were exposed, and those that were damaged

by modern alterations were repaired, restoring them to

their original form. The northern modern cupboard recess

was uncovered, and the original one from the medieval

period was reconstructed in its place. The rectangular two

oil lamp recesses(?) were marked in the plaster by out-

lining. In the south wall, the cupboard recess was again

exposed. The connection to the chancel was made by

activating a medieval passage. Traces of the entrance to

the pulpit were plastered over. However, the medieval

entrance to the matroneum level found on the west wall

was exposed and left as a recess. The former large arch

below it, as a relic of Gothic decoration, was exposed by

partially exposing the face of the bricks forming it.

The historic lime plasterwork on the walls was pre-

served and the painting relics found on the walls were con-

served. The medieval consecration crosses were partially

reconstructed. The same applies to some of the vault dec-

orations.

Summary

A reconstruction of the history of the chapel has not

yet been possible due to the introduction of a permanent

cult (1964). It was only as a result of the subsequent

architectural research undertaken (2014–2015) that the

hitherto unknown history of the chapel was identied. In

addition to medieval details, modern and contemporary

details were found. The discovered traces made it pos-

sible to establish six phases of construction, which have

been described and justied. The rst, which forms the

basis of all the later ones, concerns the building erected

during or immediately after the construction of the future

chancel. The interior of the chapel with its west matro-

neum was covered by a ceiling, which was only replaced

by vaults at the time of re-gothicisation (early 20

centu-

ry). The chapel was probably originally associated with

the confraternity of St. Eric. It was soon replaced by the

Confraternity of the Holy Scapular. From the 17

century

onwards, the chapel periodically served as a sacristy. The

rich history of transformations was derived from the cur-

rent opportunities and needs of the Carmelites and later

their legal successors.

Translated by

SkrivanekSp.zo.o.

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 ChapelatSt.Joseph’sChurchinGdańsk 15

Abstract

Chapel at St. Joseph’s Church in Gdańsk

The subject of this article is the chapel located in the former Gdańsk Carmelite monastery complex. The results of the architectural research

carried out in it in 2014–2015 are presented. As a result, the time and purpose of the building’s construction were established. The original appear-

ance and traces of later alterations were also recognised. The recesses found on the longitudinal walls, of similar dimensions, not reaching the oor,

were considered to be the original decoration of the chapel. Other details, such as the original passage into the church and the west matroneum, also

belonged to it. The wide cupboard recesses reaching to the oor were evidence of later changes, also linked to the function of the sacristy. Other

changes include a major redesign of the interior at the beginning of the 20

century. This involved the construction of two stone pillars and the instal-

lation of vaults on top of them. Recent construction and restoration work has left exposed medieval details, some reconstructed in fragments or even

as a whole. Traces of alterations considered secondary have been eliminated. The principle adopted allowed the medieval decoration of the chapel to

be shown to a considerable extent for the rst time in centuries. The building is one of the most interesting to be found in the city today.

Key words: Gdańsk, Carmelite monastery, chapel, crypt

Streszczenie

Kaplica przy kościele św. Józefa w Gdańsku

Tematem artykułu jest kaplica znajdująca się w dawnym gdańskim zespole klasztornym karmelitów. W pracy przedstawiono wyniki badań archi-

tektonicznych przeprowadzonych w niej w latach 2014–2015. W ich rezultacie ustalono czas i cel powstania obiektu. Rozpoznano także pierwotny

wygląd i ślady późniejszych przebudów. Znalezione wnęki na ścianach wzdłużnych, o podobnych wymiarach, niedochodzące do posadzki uznane

zostały za oryginalny wystrój kaplicy. Do niego należały także inne detale, takie jak pierwotne przejście do kościoła, empora zachodnia. Świa-

dectwem późniejszych zmian, powiązanych także z funkcją zakrystii, były szerokie dochodzące do posadzki wnęki szafowe. Do innych należała

przeprowadzona w początkach XX w. zasadnicza zmiana wystroju wnętrza. Polegała na ustawieniu dwóch kamiennych larów i założeniu na nich

sklepień. Niedawno podjęte prace budowlano-konserwatorskie pozostawiły odsłonięte średniowieczne detale, niektóre po zrekonstruowaniu frag-

mentów, a nawet całości. Ślady uznane za wtórne zostały zlikwidowane. Przyjęta zasada pozwoliła po raz pierwszy od stuleci pokazać w znacznym

stopniu średniowieczny wystrój kaplicy. Obiekt ten jest jednym z ciekawszych, jakie obecnie znajdują się mieście.

Słowa kluczowe: Gdańsk, klasztor karmelitów, kaplica, krypta