30
Hanna Golasz-Szołomicka, Aleksandra Wolniak
Selected late Gothic sacraria in Silesia were presented by
Hans Lutsch (1903, 2001). Erika Baare-Schmidt (1937) de-
scribed the types of Gothic tabernacles in various regions of
Germany, and in more detail the late Gothic so-called sac-
rament houses, that is, tower-like forms. Although the au-
thor emphasised that a tabernacle is a place for storing the
Eucharist, she also used this term to refer to various types
of sacramental chapels, altar pyxes, choir stalls, and al -
tar
ca binets. Achim Timmermann (2005) discussed selected
15
th
-century sacrament houses from the territories of Bel-
gium, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland. The history and types
of tabernacles in Poland, as well as the meanings of the terms
used, were presented by Antoni Rafałko (1982). Janusz Gręź-
li kowski (2012) described the development of the taberna-
cle in relation to the norms and statutes of various synods
throughout history. Agnieszka Woś-Jucker (2005), in addi-
tion to presenting the types of sacraria, focused on terminol-
ogy, explaining its various meanings over the centuries and
the corresponding terms used in foreign-language literature.
In the literature, the place where the Eucharist is kept is
referred to interchangeably as a ciborium, tabernacle, sacra-
mentarium, or sacrarium. Their etymology was discussed by
Rafałko (1982), Woś-Jucker (2005), and Bogusław Nadolski
(2006). After analysing the literature, the authors of the pres-
ent text apply the following terminology: ciborium – a can-
opy over an altar or tomb (Kozakiewicz 1969, 73; Rafałko
1982, 203; Woś-Jucker 2005, 132, 133; Nadolski 2006,
280, 281), tabernacle – an altar cabinet (Kozakiewicz 1969,
344; Rafałko 1982, 203; Woś-Jucker 2005, 134; Nadolski
2006, 1554) or a structure in which the vessels containing
the Eucharist are stored (Rafałko 1982, 203), sacramentari-
um – a liturgical book (Jougan 1992, 508; Woś-Jucker 2005,
137; Nadolski 2006, 1434), sacrarium – a place of storage
(Rafałko 1982, 203; Jougan 1992, 508; Woś-Jucker 2005,
136–138).
In the Catholic Church after 313 AD, the Eucharist was
kept in sacristies, in wall niches known as wall sacraria, or
on altars. In Poland, sacraria located in sacristies were still in
use in the 16
th
century, and in Silesia even into the 17
th
centu-
ry (Gręźlikowski 2012; Rafałko 1982). At the turn of the 12
th
and 13
th
centuries, with changes in the liturgy, the sacrarium
was moved to the presbytery, taking the form of a wall niche
closed with doors or a grille, with both doors and a grille
(in northern Poland), or with a grille alone (in Silesia; Woś-
Jucker 2005). The preserved niches took on simple forms
or were topped with a trefoil arch (Grodków, parish church,
13
th
century; Rafałko 1982), with a rounded arch and a gab-
let (Wrocław, Church of St Adalbert, 1295–1330)
1
(Fig. 7).
Over time, the niche was tted with a box that could be
pulled out beyond the wall face and supported by a pillar.
In this way, a tower-shaped sacrarium was created – the so-
called Eucharistic house.
In Poland, from the 15
th
to the mid-16
th
century (Rafałko
1982
2
), tower-shaped sacrament houses were also built – ei-
1
In some churches, two sacrament houses have been preserved,
which may have been used to store the Eucharist and the holy oils
(source: www.wroclaw.dominikanie.pl).
2
Rafałko lists documented sacrament houses dated to the 15
th
cen-
tury. However, Lutsch dates the sacrament house in Świebodzice to the
ther attached to walls or pillars, or as free-standing struc-
tures – on square or polygonal plans. They were topped
with tall spires reecting the ground plan of the structure.
In Świebodzice (Church of St Francis, 1352; Lutsch 2001),
a sacrament house was erected on a plan of a half-hexagon,
decorated with tracery and a grille with rosettes, and covered
with a roof featuring gables (wimpergs). In Lubin (Parish
Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa, 15
th
c.; Lutsch 2001),
Śmiałowice (15
th
c.; Pilch 2011), Małujowice (Church of
St James, 1511; Lutsch 2001), Bolesławiec (Church of St
Hedwig, 1515; Lutsch 2001), Wrocław (Church of St Mary
Magdalene, 1410; Pilch 2011; or 1375–1380; Timmermann
2005), and in Brennik (1521), sacrament houses were built
in the form of rectangular cabinets decorated with grilles on
three sides. In Gościszów (Parish Church of Our Lady and
St John the Baptist), a late Gothic sacrament house (Pilch
2011) has been preserved, designed on a triangular plan (set
diagonally in relation to the eastern wall of the chancel), dec-
orated with a canopy arch and a pointed arch. In Strzegom
(Church of Sts Peter and Paul, 1420; Timmermann 2005),
a sacrament house was built on a concave octagonal plan, de-
corated with gural sculpture and grilles on each side. In the
Church of St Elizabeth in Wrocław, in 1455 (Lutsch 1903),
a free-standing sacrament house was constructed on the plan
of an eight-pointed star, supported by a pillar adorned with
co lumns, reliefs, and sculptural brackets. Co lumns were
plac ed on the arms of the star, connected by pointed arches
and topped with pinnacles. The entire structure was rein-
forced with anchors and connected to the wall.
Similar sacrament houses were built in Germany, Bel-
gium, and Slovakia. In Germany, up to the 15
th
century, wall-
mounted sacrament houses were constructed, while from
the 15
th
to the mid-16
th
century (Baare-Schmidt 1937), tow-
er-shaped sacrament houses were built against walls or pil-
lars, on square or polygonal plans, topped with multi-story,
openwork spires (Fig. 8). In Slovakia and Belgium, 15
th
-cen-
tury sacrament houses were built on octagonal or star-shaped
plans and featured tall nials (Timmermann 2005). In some
buildings, the cornice of the nial was rotated by 45 degrees.
In the churches of Lower Silesia discussed above, sac-
rament houses were built on the east-south (Świebodzice,
Małujowice, Wrocław – Churches of Corpus Christi and
St Mary Magdalene, Ziębice) or north side of the chancel
(Gościszów, Strzegom, Wrocław – Church of St Elizabeth,
Śmiałowice). In German churches, they were usually placed
against the eastern wall or in the northern part of the chan-
cel, except in Hameln, where the sacrament house was lo-
cated in the east-southeast corner of the chancel.
In the Middle Ages, other tower-like structures known as
“lanterns of the dead” (Fig. 7) were also built. These were
usually located on the northern side of churches, near ceme-
teries. They consisted of an upper section open with arcades,
supported by a pillar or pedestal. Such structures could feature
rich decoration in the form of columns, pointed arches, and
rosettes (examples include: Wrocław – Cathedral, 14
th
–15
th
century; Wrocław – Convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame;
mid-14
th
century, which suggests that tower-shaped forms may have al-
ready appeared in the 14
th
century.
