Introduction
The Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Family (Polish: Bazylika Archikatedralna Sanktuarium Świętej Rodziny ) also called Częstochowa Cathedral is a religious building that is affiliated with the Catholic Church and was built in the neo-Gothic style, it is a three-nave church following the Roman or Latin rite and is located on the street Krakowska in the city of Częstochowa in Poland. Built between the years 1825 and 1898 on top of an old cemetery, it is one of Europe’s largest of its kind. Konstanty Wojciechowski created the design for it, which was constructed between 1901 and 1927. The temple in 1925 became the cathedral of the diocese of Częstochowa, and since 1992 is the metropolitan church of the ecclesiastical province of Czestochowa. The basilica’s north facade is in front of John Paul II Square, formerly Cathedral Square. A crypt housing the local bishops can be found in the Chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa.
Design
The church was designed in 1900 by Konstanty Wojciechowski. He envisioned an impressive structure of monumental dimensions, one of the largest in Poland at the time. The cathedral is a three-aisled structure, built of brick with stone in the architectural details. The side naves are opened by pointed- arch arcades with quadrangular pillars. The cross-ribbed vaults. The pointed-arch windows with tracery in the chancel and transept are glazed with stained glass. The walls of the transept, nave, and chancel are supported by flying buttresses, decorated with arcaded friezes, and topped with tracery balustrades. The church’s roofs are steep, with triangular gables at the front and above the transept, divided by blind windows. Its length was to be 100 m, the height of the main nave 27 m, the width of the transept 46 m, the width of the nave 32 m, the height of two towers, approximately 80 m each.
Construction begins
The building was located between Ogrodowa, Katedralna , Krakowska, and Mielczarskiego Streets. On October 26, 1901, the first wheelbarrow of foundation stones was poured at the construction site. In 1902, the foundations were raised to the height of the plinth. On September 7, 1902, Bishop Stanisław Zdzitowiecki blessed the church’s cornerstone . In 1903, the church under construction was dedicated to the Holy Family. The walls were built to the height of the side naves. In 1904, they were raised to the height of the nave’s cornice. In 1905, the nave walls were covered with a roof. Due to a debt of 60,000 rubles, further work was suspended. In 1907, construction resumed at the initiative of Father Marian Fulman . The church’s interior was provisionally furnished, and on December 7, 1907, Father Euzebiusz Rejman, General of the Pauline Order , consecrated it. In 1908, the gables of the transept chapels were completed, the chancel was plastered, the floor was laid, the windows were glazed, and the chancel was provisionally furnished. On December 8, 1908, the first Mass was celebrated. Finishing work was interrupted for a dozen years.
Parish of the Holy Family
On October 29, 1917, a separate parish of the Holy Family was established , separated from the parish of St. Sigismund , encompassing the southern and western parts of the city. The first pastor of the new parish, Father Bolesław Wróblewski, began the work of finishing the church. Between 1917 and 1922, the church was electrified and equipped with liturgical apparatus. In 1922, the church’s facade, arcades, gable end, and cornices were completed. In 1923–1924, the unfinished towers were roofed. In 1925, the church’s facade was clad with facing brick, the bell tower was built, and the scaffolding was finally removed.
Cathedral of the Holy Family
On October 28, 1925, Pope Pius XI officially made the Diocese of Częstochowa, and this church became its cathedral. The next year, they vaulted the aisles, glazed all the windows, and built a choir loft. In 1927, they laid stairs in front, and on December 6, the cathedral was officially dedicated. In 1934, they added stained glass windows in the chancel, designed by Winiarz and Rosen. A year later, they put in a bell honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland. Between the wars, someone donated a copy of Rubens’ painting, the “Assumption of the Virgin Mary,” to the cathedral. Sadly, after World War II started, on September 3, 1939, hundreds of people were shot right in the cathedral square.
After the War
The church’s inside was improved after the war. In 1948, they paved the floors with sandstone from Nuremberg. Between 1946 and 1949, they installed a massive organ with 101 stops, made by the Biernacki Company. It’s the biggest fully pneumatic organ in Poland.
Architecture of Archcathedral Basilica of the Holy Family, Częstochowa, Poland
Interior Details
On October 29, 1950, Bishop Teodor Kubina officially consecrated the cathedral. During the 1950s, they built a big main altar carved from linden wood with a triptych showing the Holy Family, designed by Zygmunt Gawlik. They added the bishop’s chair, seats for the canons, and a pulpit in the chancel. The cross arms (called the transept) got altars for the Blessed Sacrament (now called Christ the King) and for Our Lady of Częstochowa. A marble balustrade made from Swedish marble was installed, and stained glass windows by Adam Bunsch were put above the organ.
Stained Glass and Decorations
Starting in 1958, they made smaller stained glass windows in the side aisles, designed by Tadeusz Wojciechowski and inspired by medieval stained glass. These windows show the holy sacraments. At the same time, they built the Chapel of the Baptism of the Lord, now called the Chapel of Divine Mercy. The main altar has a bronze tabernacle with an image of Christ in Majesty, in a Romanesque style. The holy water fonts were designed by Stanisław Pospieszalski and made from granite taken from the plinth of the old statue of Tsar Alexander II, which was torn down in 1917. The communion rails are made from Finnish granite and sandstone, decorated with angels and scenes like the Annunciation and Crucifixion. The pulpit is also granite and marble, with symbols of the four Evangelists, and was blessed in 1958. The fonts at the entrance are also richly decorated.
Crypt and Mosaic
In 1960, they built an underground crypt with catacombs where the bishops of Częstochowa are buried. Behind the simple stone altar is a mosaic of the Virgin Mary, designed by Zofia Baudouin de Courtenay and made in the Vatican. The stained glass window in the crypt shows the grieving Virgin Mary walking to the tomb.
Minor Basilica
In June 1962, Pope John XXIII gave the cathedral the title of minor basilica, after the local bishop asked for it. Later, during Bishop Stefan Bareło’s time (1964–1984), they covered the roof with copper. In 1982, they put up a bronze statue of John Paul II, carved by Jerzy Kędziora, to remember the Pope’s visit in 1979. By 1975, they finished a copper altarpiece of Our Lady, Queen of Poland. After 1984, they decorated the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and painted the Stations of the Cross. Oak sculptures by Józef Pyrz were also added.
Archcathedral and Towers
On March 25, 1992, when the Archdiocese of Częstochowa was created, the cathedral was raised to an archcathedral. Then, in 1997, the architect Edmund Małachowicz designed and added two towers on top. They raised the walls by 38 meters and topped each tower with a 30-meter steel dome. To hold all that weight, they installed steel braces inside between the pillars. Toward the end of the 20th century, they also expanded the chancel platform and moved the altar closer to the transept, covering some balustrades. They built new side chapels honoring the Holy Martyrs of Częstochowa, Christ the Agony with an old wooden statue of Christ carrying the cross, and Our Lady of the Angels with a famous 19th-century painting. In 2010, under Janusz Sobczyk’s design, they built a new altar with a bas-relief of the Paschal Lamb, a pulpit, new stalls, a bishop’s seat, a metropolitan cross, and a new floor. They also added mosaics around the cathedral cross and in front of the Blessed Sacrament chapel (showing the Risen Christ). The crypt of the Częstochowa bishops was rebuilt and decorated with mosaics too.
Organs
The Romantic grand organ in the choir loft was built between 1946 and 1949. Later, a copper Spanish trumpet was installed . The instrument has 101 stops distributed across four manual keyboards (with a C-a3 scale) and a pedalboard (with a C-f1 pedalboard). It is the largest organ in Poland operating on a pneumatic action and stops. The bellows are powered by two electric blowers. The organ features a historic calibrating mechanism . The largest pipes on the grand organ are approximately 8 meters long. In 1956, a side organ was built in the chancel , with 16 stops distributed across two manual keyboards and a pedalboard. The instrument is electrically connected to the grand organ’s playing table. It is possible to play the grand organ using the side organ’s playing table and vice versa, and to play both instruments simultaneously, as well as for two people to play one instrument at a time. The ensemble of the great organ and the organ in the chancel constitutes an instrument with 117 voices.
Disposition of the great organs
Individual voices are marked with colors: language voices , mixtures . The length of the largest pipe in a given voice is given in feet, where 8′ ≈ 2.5 m. The 32′ Subcontrabass voice in the CH range of its scale is composed of 16’+10 2/3′ choirs (two pipes each allowing for the acoustic effect of a 32′ voice). The 32′ Bombardon voice begins on the c key; from the inception of the organ, a vacancy has been left for the lowest octave (an empty space to be filled with the largest pipes).
Bells
Before 1935, the cathedral had only two bells. That changed in 1935, when a new bell was added to mark the tenth anniversary of the Diocese of Częstochowa. This bell, which weighed 2,529 kilograms, was made at the Schwabe Bell Foundry. Sadly, during World War II, two of the cathedral’s bells were taken by German soldiers. After the war, in 1950, two replacement bells were cast at a factory in Kęty and placed in the tower. A third, smaller bell was added two years later, in 1952.
Feast Day
Feast Day : Sunday in the Octave of Christmas
The Archcathedral Basilica of the Holy Family in Częstochowa celebrates its feast on the Feast of the Holy Family, which takes place on the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas or on December 30th if no Sunday falls in that period.
Church Mass Timing
Monday to Saturday : 7:00 AM, 6:00 PM
Sunday : 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 6:00 PM.
Church Opening Time:
Monday to Sunday : 7:00 am, 6:00 pm.
Contact Info
Address : Archcathedral Basilica of the Holy Family in Częstochowa
Krakowska 15, 42-200 Częstochowa, Poland
Phone : +48 34 365 36 38
Accommodations
Connectivities
Airway
Archcathedral Basilica of the Holy Family, Częstochowa, Poland, to Katowice International Airport, distance between 52 min (50.5 km) via A1.
Railway
Archcathedral Basilica of the Holy Family, Częstochowa, Poland to Częstochowa aleja Wolności, distance between 9 min (2.5 km) via Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego and aleja Wolności.
