Church of St. Casimir the Prince, Kraków

The Church of St. Casimir the Prince (Polish: Kościół św. Kazimierza Królewicza) in Kraków, Poland – with the adjacent Franciscan monastery and the catacombs – is located at ul. Reformacka 4 street in the Old Town district (Stare Miasto). Members of the Catholic Order of Franciscans known as "Little Brothers" arrived in Kraków in 1622 and settled at the outskirts of the town in Garbary (1625).

The church was completed in 1640 thanks to a donation from Zuzanna Amendówna, bequeathed around 1644 along with the miracle painting of Madonna displayed today at the side altar of the new church. The first church of the Order was destroyed during the Swedish Deluge. In 1658 monks settled at the Reformacka street in a small manor given to them by Stanisław Warszycki, the castellan of Kraków. In 1666 suffragan bishop Mikołaj Oborski laid the foundation stone for the current church. The chief benefactor of the church and the monastery was Franciszek Szembek, a local noble and the castellan of Kamieniec. The newly built Baroque church was consecrated in 1672.

Inside the church there are late Baroque altars originating in 1745–1748. A crucifix stands atop the high altar in accordance with the basic rule of the Order. The Patron of the church, St. Casimir, has his facsimile painted at the side altar (first on the left). This image was most probably painted in 1660-1670 and is assumed to be the work of the Gdańsk painter Daniel Schultz. Paintings on the vault of the church date from 1904 and are the work of Aleksander Mroczkowski.

On the outside wall of the Monastery there is an old, historic "bell for the dying" rung only when someone close to the Little Brothers dies. The bell is protected by a small roof. Below the bell is a plaque of black marble, written in reference to its foundation in 1750.

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Wikipedia