Description of the attraction
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic church located in the Polish city of Wroclaw on the island of Tumski.
The first church on the site of the present cathedral was built in the middle of the 10th century; it was destroyed by the troops of the Duke of Bretislaus in 1039. The second church was built on this site in the Romanesque style during the reign of Prince Casimir I in 1158. Later, the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style. It was the first brick building in the city. Two towers, three naves - the church was consecrated by Bishop Zyroslav II in 1180. In the following decades, the reconstruction was carried out in several stages. In 1517, Bishop John Thurzo built a new portal sacristy, which is considered the first Renaissance work in Silesia.
In June 1540, a fire destroyed the roof and bells of the north tower. It was restored 16 years later in the Renaissance style. Another fire in June 1759 destroyed the towers, roofs and sacristy. Restoration work continued over the next 150 years. The cathedral was almost completely destroyed (about 70%) during the siege of Breslau and the heavy bombing of the Red Army in the last days of World War II. The surviving details of the church's interior are currently on display at the National Museum in Warsaw. The reconstruction continued until 1951, when the cathedral was consecrated by Archbishop Stefan Vyshinsky.
