Krzeszow Abbey, Poland

September 1992 was an exciting time for Eastern Europe and for my continental trips! Driving on my own and camping I had already burst into the old East Germany, been enchanted by Dresden and was heading for Cracow. This meant going through Silesia.
This is now part of Poland and has had a turbulent history  - part of Bohemia in the 10th century, then under Poland c.990, next gaining some independence, back to Bohemian control in 14th century, part of Habsburg Holy Roman Empire from 1526, captured by Prussia in 1742 ; then some of it part of Poland in the 1920s, and then after 1945 all becoming part of Poland with its German population deported and Poles resettled from the East!! There are mountains and some great architecture. Somehaow I found out about the baroque piles at Krzeszow (or Grussau)and found myself driving along deserted side roads. it was like being back in England in the 1950s and I have never forgotten it. The main problem has been to trace this place because it is referred to in different spellings and is unpronouncable!

The  night after I saw it I camped on the nearby battlefield site at Legnickie Pole. This dreadful battle  took place on 9 April 1241 when the Mongols invaded Europe and defeated the Poles iunder their Duke Henry the Pious. It was one of the most serious times for Europe because nothing seemed to stop the invading hordes of horsebound warriors. The story goes that Duke Henry was killed and beheaded and only identified by his six toed feet! There was a thunderstorm that night when I camped there....it was a dark place. Think of Game of Thrones and you get the idea.

Anna of Bohemia widow of Duke Henry the Pious founded the Benedictine  abbey Krzeszow of Krzin 1242. It was given over to the Cistercians in 1289. The abbey was damaged in the Hussite wars and the Thirty Years War so we have a Baroque rebuild from 1727-35.. After Frederick the Great of Prussia took over Silesia the abbey became a centre for the parish, Some German monks came from Prague in 1919 and settled here. In the Second World War the abbey even became a Nazi detention centre.

The 3 minute video below is one of the best introductory videos I have found for anywhere. Shows the position among hills, exteriors and interiors. Highly recommended. 

There are two churches : the church of St Joseph has frescos by Michael Willmann dating from 1690-96. The Abbey Church of St Mary is  by Antpn Jentsch (1699-57. The interior is based on St Nicholas in the Old Town, Prague but with lower galleries. The west front has been described as "entirely original" and the greatest achievement of the Silesian Baroque". (Hempel Baroque art and architecture in Central Europe) I can barely remember it but from the photo (below) in the aforementioned book it is trully magnificent. It has trompe l'oeil  paintings by Georg Wilhem Neunhertz, sculptures by Anton Dorazil and vaulting by Ferdinand Maximilian Brokoff. There is  a mausoleum of local Gothic Piast rulers. Alas my memory of this is sketchy but there is a lot to see and maybe one day to return but not to camp at Legnica....

The organ by Michael Engler dates from 1732-7 and has 3 manuals plus pedal, and 50 stops. The recent rebuild by Jehmlich of Dresden has reurned it to its original state. Alas I did not hear it speak.

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St Peter, Mainz

Mainz was a place of pilgrimage to two trainee librarians back in 1972! For here was the Johannes Gutenberg Museum celebrating  the inventor of movable metal type in Western Europe in 1439.  But I remembered more of the huge Romanesque Cathedral nearby with its amazing  spires. 

Coming back in 2018 for the Christmas Market we were enchanted by the squares surrounding the great cathedral. But where would the Elector Archbishop have operated? He was a key player in the old Holy Roman Empire as president of the electoral college, arch-chancellor of the empire and primate of Germany until the dissolution of the empire in 1806. We found the remnant of his palace on the riverfront as we walked to our hotel.

Nearby was a large baroque church - St Peter's. There has been a church here since 944 but the present rococo one only dates from 1748, by Johann Valentin Thomann, the court architect. Sadly this was gutted in the last war. Restoration took place 1979-89. The original frescos by JosepheAppiani were destroyed and have been redone by the Bavarian afrtist Karl Manninger and his pupile Hermengild Peiker. They tell of the life and legends of St Peter. The crucifixion scene of the saint upside down is deeply memorable. Fortunately the richly gilded pulpit by Johann Forster and some 16th century altars by court sculptor Hans Backoffen survived and have been restored. The central altar contains a modern sculpture showing all kinds of human fishes wriggling in a bronze net.

This restoration is a triumph and it was great to be able attend a Mass for the feast of Christ the King. The organist joined in the triumph from his gallery and priest and people combined in a joyous shout in perfect harmony with the rococo brilliance of the interior.

St Peter Crucifixion

Valletta Co Cathedral St John

Valletta is the capital of Malta but it is a new city - dating from after the Great Siege by the Turks in 1565. Previous to that the headquarters of the Knights of St John was in Birgu, the other side of what is now known as the Grand Harbour. (And what a grand harbour ! one of the sights of the world and now featuring in so many films and also on Game of Thrones!) The new city requiured a new conventual church for the Knights and it was Grand Master Jean de la Cassiere who commissioned it from the Maltese architect, Giralomi Cassar.

 It was built 1573-7 with the sacristy added in 1598 and oratory in 1603. The side chapels were added in the 18th century. At first it was a severe plain Mannerist building . Even today the exterior is more like a fortress and gives no hint of the baroque splendour inside. It was Sir Walter Scott who praised the interior to the skies and said he had never seen a more magnificent one. I had seen pictures and imagined it in a narrower street and expected it to be a Church of England cathedral! I now know better : Malta is resolutely Roman Catholic and since the later 1660s this church has been embellished to the hilt in accordance with Baroque Rome.The Knights in their various Langues (international divisions) set out to fill it with splendid art. Unfortunately Napoleon removed some of it when the French invaded. Much has been recovered and today what we see is still overwhelming.  It is called a co-Cathedral because it is with the Cathedral in Mdina, jointly the seat of the local Archbishop. It is one of the great Baroque churches of Europe. 

The floor has 375 marble tombstones  bearing family name, arms, dates and  exploits. The masterstroke is the six panels in the tunnel vault of 18 scenes from the life of St John the Baptist 

painted by Mattia Preti 1662-7. The choir contains a large white sculpture by Giuseppe Mazzuoli. There are carved 16th century choir stalls.

Each Langue has a side chapel trying to outdo the others.  It is a joy processing from one to the other: looking at the altars and wall decoration. 

The massive sacristy is full of fine paintings. The oratory contains two huge Caravaggios from the time when he was a Knight. He had had to flee from the Roman police and was accepted as a Knight of St John. Unfortunately he soon  picked a fight with another Knight and was put in prison and kicked out of the Order.

View from gallery

Mannerist exterior 

Tunnel vault

Detail of the vault

High altar

Side chapels

Wall of side chapel

Painting of interior

Passage through the side chapels

Altar in side chapel

Sacristy

Church of our Saviour Copenhagen

Ever seen a spire like this? Even the indefatiguable Wren never did such a spire! The architect Lauritz de Thurah may have based it on St Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome. Completed in 1752 the King Frederick V climbed up to the top at the inauguration! There is a persistent story that poor Lauritz later committed suicide by jumping from the top because he had spoilt it by making the stairs anticlockwise.Not true! He died 7 years later in his bed!

Now I have to admit that we did not get to the top because the weather was too wet and windy. I have therefore missed out on the 400 steps (150 outside). My days of climbing towers has largely stopped but Paula was very sad not to go up. Also we never heard the carillon which is supposed to sound every hour in the day and is the largest in northern Europe. We have been into carillons ever since visiting Bergues in northern France where they filmed one of our favourite films Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis.
The church was begun in 1682 to designs by Lambert van Haven and inaugurated in 1695. However there was no spire and no permanent altar until 1732. It is in Dutch baroque style with a Greek cross layout.
I liked the huge altarpiece from 1732 by Nicodemus Tessin.  The theme is the scene in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is comforted by an angel with another angel hanging in the air beside them, carrying the golden cup.There are two figures on each side Pietas and Justitia : King Frederick V's motto. There are six angels in front of the altar : Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Michael, Jeremiel, and a large seated cherub.I did not expect such altar pieces in a Protestant (Lutheran) church. Not quite Assam brothers as at Rohr but moving neverhteless.
There is a huge organ by the Botzen brothers (1698-1700) : one of the oldest, largest and finest of the north German organ school. We didnt hear that either! This massive organ case rests on two huge elephants, the symbol of monarchy and the Order of the Elephant.
I think we should return!

Lauritz de Thurah' spire - sometimes called "Heavenly Ladder"

The approach

Overall view of Tessin's altar

Raphael with sword     and guardian of the Tree of Life

Gabriel with live branch - symbol of life

Uriel with lamp -symbol of vigilance

Michel with helmet and trumpet symbol of head of Heavenly host

Jeremiel with book symbol of Bpook of Life

Cherub with book and guilded sword

Organ resting on elephants!

Close-up of the altar

St Catherine of Italy Church, Valletta, Malta

This is my second post about a Maltese church. If I were to cover all the churches of just Valletta we would be overwhelmed. There  is Baroque wherever I looked. This particular miniature example is so prominent near the Presidential palace and opposite the important Lady of Victories Church which I may cover later. It was originalklyt built as the chapel for the Italian knights of St John. Remember that the Knights Hospitaller of St John were international and made up of eight Langues from  Italy, England, Auvergne, Germany, Provence, France, Castile, and  Aragon and Navarre. Having had to leave Rhodes in 1522 because of  Suleiman's Turkish invasion, they moved to Malta in 1530. Each Langue had a headquarters called an auberge with a chapel. The Italian auberge is next door to this church which was the original Italian chapel. It still acts as the church for Italians who live in Valletta. 

Originally built in 1576 it was enlarged in the 17th century with an octagonal section being added to the original chapel which then became the chancel of the church. Mattia Preti (1613-1699) did the altar piece painting of the martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria and also the ceiling decoration of the cupola.

I think my photos give some indication of the elegance of this little church. Its like  a jewel box.

St Martin Messkirch

This church in Baden Wurttemberg qualifies for inclusion because of its rococo make over 1769-73 by with paintings by Andreas Meinrad von Au and stucco by Johann Jakob Schwarzmann.. This makes it the last rococo church in Upper Swabia. The Baroque St. John Nepomuk Chapel ( Nepomuk Chapel ) was built in 1732-1739 as an annex to the Gothic church under the patronage of the Prince Froben Ferdinand von Fürstenberg-Meßkirch with plans by Johann Caspar Bagnato and the Asam brothers (Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin) around relics of St John  Nepomuk.

The church is adjacent to the Renaissance palace and my memory is jogged by this little video. Also shown is the exterior of the St John Nepomuk chapel, the most famous part of the church.

Apotheosis of St Martin by Andreas Meinrad van Ow (1773)

St John Nepomuk chapel

St Anne's Limehouse

St Anne's Limehouse is one of the six Queen Anne churches built (1714-30)under the Fifty New Churches Act. It was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and in those days it was in a green firld site in the expanding residential area of the parish of Stepney. The approach from the west showing the west front is noble. (see video below).With no portico the flight of steps leads to a kind of apse, crowned with a dome giving access to the main entrance. Alas I have never gained entrance here or by any other door! It is one of those London churches locked except for services.





Its position on the river and prominent tower has led to connections with the navy and it has become a Trinity House "sea mark" on navigational charts.
There was a very serious fire in 1850 which destrtoyed much of the interior. For example pulpit and font date from after this.There are galleries.There has been major restoration 1983-93 and 2007-9. This included major work on the organ, the altar and floor.The web site is very welcoming and I hope to get in one day!

This video will give you a very realistic idea of what the church looks like from outside. It is a  long lingering walk around the churchyard by a cameraman lurching over the view as though from a nearby boozer! Still it is exactly how I remember the church and he doesn't get inside either!