Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka is a Catholic cathedral located
on John Paul II Square (formerly the Factory Market). The church is
the center of the Catholic religious life in Lodz, as well as the
largest church in the city, whose tower is more than 100 meters
high.
In 1895, an architectural competition was announced for
the construction of the church. The winner was the project of the
master Emil Zillmann, who began construction work in 1901. Over the
course of 11 years, several more Polish and Austrian architects have
joined the creation of the church: Kazimierz Sokolovsky, Siegfried
Stern, Jan Dziekonski.
In 1922, the temple was consecrated by
Bishop Vincent. The dominant feature of the church is the tower,
built in 1927 by Józef Kaban-Korski.
The basilica is made of
light yellow clinker bricks in the Gothic style, the architectural
image clearly shows the influence of important cathedrals in Western
Europe. The interior of the temple is decorated with colored stained
glass windows, arches, bas-reliefs, sculptural compositions. Here
you can see valuable works of art that were donated at different
times by wealthy residents of the city.
During World War II,
the church was plundered and turned into a military warehouse. In
the post-war years, reconstruction was carried out, the main altar
was restored. In May 1971, a terrible fire broke out in the church,
as a result of which the roof collapsed, the interior of the church
was damaged. The repair work took about a year.
In 1992, Pope
John Paul II elevated the temple to the status of a cathedral.
The construction committee was established in 1895, it was composed
of the largest manufacturers in Łódź: Juliusz Teodor Heinzel, Edward
Herbst, Juliusz Kunitzer, Józef Richter and Adolf Hoffrichter. Around
1897, the city authorities allocated a part of Plac Szpitalny for the
construction of a new (third in order of construction) Catholic church.
The competition for the design announced in 1898 was won by the company
"Wende i Zarske" led by Johannes Wende and Adolf Zarske, who employed
the then little-known architect Emil Zillmann. The degree of Zillmann's
involvement in the project is unknown. Although in the 1970s he was
credited with the sole authorship of the building's design, today
Johannes Wende and Adolf Zarske are recognized as full co-authors. In
1900, the plot for construction was marked by the measurement office of
Zdzisław Kułakowski and Mikołaj Trąbczyński. Józef Pius Dziekoński,
Sławomir Odrzywolski-Nałęcz and Stefan Szyller introduced amendments to
the original project, aimed at increasing the size of the church. The
interior was designed by Viennese architect Zygfryd Stern. The
construction was supervised by architects: Kazimierz Sokołowski, and
from 1909 Kazimierz Stebelski.
The cornerstone was consecrated on
June 16, 1901 by the Archbishop of Warsaw, Wincenty Chościak-Popiel. The
church building was built in the years 1901–1912 of unplastered light
yellow brick (in the so-called Rohbau style). December 10, 1920 the
church of St. Stanisław Kostka was raised by Pope Benedict XV to the
rank of a cathedral, and on October 15, 1922, the cathedral was
consecrated by Bishop Wincenty Tymieniecki.
In 1941, the temple
was plundered by the occupier, turned into a military warehouse, and a
mushroom farm was arranged in its crypt.
The three-nave basilica
is modeled on the German Ulmer Münster. The Łódź Cathedral is the
tallest building in Łódź (104.5 m high) and one of the tallest churches
in Poland.
1895: establishment of the parish church building committee.
June
16, 1901: Warsaw Archbishop Wincenty Chościak-Popiel consecrated the
cornerstone
1911: the "Zygmunt" bell, which was a gift from the
inhabitants of Łódź, was hung on the belfry added next to the church.
1920: the church became a cathedral.
1922: the temple was consecrated
by bp. Wincenty Tymieniecki, the first Ordinary of the Diocese of Łódź
and the current parish priest.
1927: a tower was added (tower cupola
designed by architect J. Kaban) and the bell "Zygmunt" was hung.
1935–1936: a crypt was built in the basement of the cathedral, where the
remains of the bishops of Łódź rest.
November 9, 1941: robbed by the
Gestapo of all valuables and liturgical vestments and turned into
military warehouses.
1945: (after the liberation of Łódź) the damage
was removed and the main altar was restored.
May 11, 1971: roof
burned down; reconstruction began immediately.
1972: On December 16,
it reopened.
1977: a granite floor and steps in front of the
presbytery were laid and equipped with a council altar and canon stalls,
and a 58-voice organ was installed (the previous ones were destroyed by
fire).
On June 13, 1987, John Paul II visited the cathedral.
1989:
Pope John Paul II grants the cathedral in Łódź the title of minor
basilica
1991: the pediment of the cathedral was renovated.
1992:
Pope John Paul II created the Archdiocese of Łódź and the temple was
named an archcathedral.
September 18, 2011: a new bell of the Lodz
Cathedral, "The Heart of Lodz", was hung from the temporary belfry.
June 1/June 10, 2012: On June 1, the bell "Heart of Lodz" was lifted to
the tower of the cathedral. On June 10, on the day of the Holy
Eucharist, the bell rang for the first time in the tower.