The cathedral complex is located on a hill. It consists of the cathedral and cathedral ramparts and is surrounded by buildings of former canonies. Within the complex is the Basilicaa The Archcathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Andrew erected in the 14th century over 59 years, Radziejowski Tower, which houses Foucault's pendulum, Copernicus' private tower - erroneously thought to be an observatory, which was, however, his formal dwelling and studio inside the defensive walls in case of war, the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum, and external canons from the 17th-18th centuries, including the St. Stanislaus canonry built on the remains of an older building that served as Copernicus' daily dwelling. In addition, a bishop's palace, two gates, three towers, a chapter house, a vicarage and two curies can be found. There are two gates leading to the hill: the South Gate and the West Gate. The South Gate, consisting of two semicircular towers, which is the main entrance, was built in the 14th century and expanded in the mid-19th century. It houses the museum's main ticket office and a sales outlet for museum publications. The West Gate, together with a reconstructed fortification, connects the bell tower and the so-called Copernicus Tower with defensive porches. The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Andrew the Apostle was built in the 14th century (in 1329-1388) in Gothic style, over a period of 59 years. Built on a plan of two rectangles, including the western porch, it measures almost 100 meters. The interiors contain, among other things, 25 altars, and 16 of them are early Baroque altars located at the inter-nave pillars. Under the floor, next to the fourth altar in the right nave, counting from the side of the chancel, rests the body of Nicolaus Copernicus. There are several annexes to the building, including the Chapel of St. George (the so-called Polish Chapel) - erected around 1500, and the Chapel of the Savior (the so-called Szembek Chapel) - in the Baroque style, erected in 1735.The most important monuments of the cathedral include: a late Gothic polyptych - founded in 1504. by Bishop Lukasz Watzenrode,uncle of Nicolaus Copernicus, a 14th century stone portal in the western porch, a painted epitaph of Canon Bartholomew Boreschow dating from after 1426, a 15th century crucifix, fragments of Gothic stalls in the chancel, Gothic tombstones, an organ prospectus dating from 1683, and an epitaph of Nicolaus Copernicus dating from the 18th century. The inner and outer canons can be found on the hill. Today, the complex of inner curiae includes two buildings: the Gothic House of the Custodian and the Baroque curia under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located to the left of the cathedral. Seven outer curiae also survive. Today, the inner canonies (17th/18th century) house the library and museum studios. The library houses an extensive collection of old prints (including the second and third editions of Copernicus' work, "De revolutionibus" - "On revolutions" - and the first Polish translation of 1854. The library building is not open to the public. Above the entrance to the library building one can see a sundial, made by Tadeusz Przypkowski. Inner canons were residential buildings within the hill, due to the fact that there were not many of them, over time the defensive elements of the foundation: towers, towers, gates became outer canons. The canons were connected by underground corridors that allowed easy movement between the various buildings. Today, however, these corridors are not made passable, and for this reason they have not been opened to the public. Opposite the main entrance to the Cathedral Hill area is located a square tower called Copernicus Tower. It is the oldest part of the fortifications located on the hill. It is a northwest tower, built before 1400, rebuilt several times in the period from the 15th to the 18th. It succumbed to the fire in 1945, but was rebuilt by 1965. From 1504 to 1543 it belonged to Nicolaus Copernicus. It was not the astronomer's observatory as commonly believed, but his formal dwelling within the walls. Further on, one can see the bell tower called Radziejowski Tower, which is also the tallest building of the foundation. It is a Gothic-Baroque structure from the turn of the 16th/17th centuries. Like the Copernicus Tower, it also burned down in 1945, but was reconstructed in 1972-1973. Dating back to the 17th century, the taller, square part is located on an octagon dating back to the 14th century. The ground floor of the tower houses a planetarium, in the upper floors one can see exhibitions of contemporary art, and from the observation deck located at the top of the tower one can admire the surrounding countryside. It also houses Foucault's Pendulum, a device used to observe the Earth's spinning motion. In the southeast corner is the Bishop's Palace in Gothic-Baroque style. Like the towers, it was destroyed in a fire in 1945 and was restored in 1965-1970. It houses the main halls of the museum, where a variety of permanent exhibitions can be seen. From the very beginning of the museum's existence, the aim was to make this place a temple of science and art, founded and developed as a tribute to the greatness of the greatest scientist of modern Europe - the creator of the current image of the world. After almost 60 years of existence, this intention has not been fully realized. Maybe the coming years will allow it and the dreams of the founders of the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum from the mid-1940s will come true. The first memorial chamber in Frombork, dedicated to Nicolaus Copernicus, was established in 1912, in the building of the Copernicus Tower, by the Warmian historian, Canon Eugen Brachvogel. A few years later, the first guide to the exhibition appeared in print. Just outside the main gate grows an old oak tree - a natural monument, devoid of its core is a great attraction for tourists.
01.06.2014
