Polish Gothic

The Gothic style arrived in Poland in the 13th century. In the north and west of the country, there are some scarce Romanesque predecessors (see here). Most Gothic buildings in Poland are made of brick, and belong to the Baltic Brick Gothic, especially in northern Poland (see Significant Brick Gothic buildings in Poland). Nonetheless, not all Gothic buildings in Poland are made of brick. For example, the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków is mostly stone-built. Poland also has some Gothic fieldstone churches, mostly of relatively small size. The centers of Polish Gothic are Kraków, Gdańsk, Toruń and Wrocław. Many Gothic buildings within the modern-day borders of Poland were connected with the Hanseatic League or with German settlements, making the term "Polish Gothic" somewhat problematic. There are, however, examples where it does clearly apply, such as the 14th-century St. Mary's Basilica at Kraków, a definite Polish achievement.

ee also

*Culture of medieval Poland