THE RECONSTRUCTING OF THE CRACOW CLOTH HALL IN THE YEARS 1875-81

• Authors: Myslinski M.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The present shape of the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), originally built in the second half of the 14th c., and now being one of the landmarks of Cracow and its Market Square, is a result of a thorough restructuring undertaken in the years 1875-81 by Tomasz Prylinski by commission of the municipal authorities. A renovation of the Cloth Hall had become necessary in view of the building's growing disrepair since the beginning of the 18th c. Several projects of its restructuring were presented in 1830, 1833, 1850, 1853 and 1867. In 1867 a special committee was established to take care of the restoration. It was proposed that the building should be functionally transformed: renovated stalls were to stay on the ground floor, while the first floor was to house exhibitions organized by the Society of Fine Arts Supporters and the collections of the future National Museum. The contract with Tomasz Prylinski was signed on 2nd August 1875 and the work started in 1876. The restored Hall was officially reopened on 4th October 1879 (the acceptance inspection took place in 1881). Previous research of that undertaking was usually focused on the changes and corrections in Prylinski's plans of restructuring, and on the large scale of stylistic interference in the Gothic and Renaissance character of the building. What has been overlooked is the economic motives of the project and the participation of Cracow artisans and industrialists. In 1875 the municipal authorities were obviously concerned about the condition of the building which was of great historic value for Cracow and Poland, but they were even more interested in launching a huge project that would become an incentive for a boom in local industry and craft. Therefore, the Municipal Council made it clear that the project should be carried out with a wide participation of Cracow firms, which should be entrusted with tasks of both technical and artistic nature. The time of executing particular tasks and the expenses can be studied on the basis of the preserved documentation, cost estimates and financial statements, as well as press relations. It is worth stressing that the participation of Cracow artisans and industrialists active in the second half of the 19th c. was one of the major arguments for starting the restoration of the Cloth Hall. Nowadays their works, forming a ample collection of constructional and artistic details, evidence the technological advancement and production potential of Cracow industry at that time. 8 Figures,

Keywords

EN

CLOTH HALL RECONSTRUCTING (CRACOW)

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej
• Year: 2004
• Volume: 52
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 305-314
• Document type: COMMUNICATION

Contributors

author

Myslinski M.

• M. Myslinski, address nor given, contact the journal editor

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

06PLAAAA00701755