About The Abbey of St. Adalbert in Staniątki, Poland:
The abbey was founded in 1228 by count palatine Klemens Gryfita of Brzezie, one of the most important rulers of Poland in the era of the Piast dynasty. It is Poland’s oldest Benedictine nunnery, founded in 1228, and is home to priceless medieval manuscripts, sacred art, and early Polish Christmas carol music. It has distinguished itself through 800 years of interrupted existence as well as being witness to the traditions of the Polish religious life and the intersection of the secular and monastic culture over the centuries. It has survived invasions, the partitions of Poland, two world wars, and communist rule, maintaining the Benedictine rhythm of prayer and work.
The abbey is a valuable document of development of the Gothic and Baroque architecture, standing out owing to the authenticity of the substance. Completed no later than in the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, is recognised as the oldest preserved Gothic hall church in Poland. At the time of its construction it was an innovative solution, attesting to the absorption of what were then most modern models of German architecture, most probably via Silesia. The monastery complex has preserved its layout and proportions endowed in the Middle Ages, despite the redevelopment in the 17th century.
The monastery includes numerous works of art, a valuable archive and collection of notes related to the liturgical vocal art that is unique on the national scale. Top-class medieval works of art include a panel painting of Our Lady of Sorrows, a figure of Sorrowful Christ, or portrayals of the Saints, stored in the monastery museum. Later epochs are represented by polychrome from the 16th-18th century, including Baroque polychrome by a valued Polish painter, Andrzej Radwański. The unique works of art also include illuminated musical manuscripts from the 15th-18th century, a set of wooden herms for arranging cornets (Italy, 16th century), a set of wax figurines (17th-19th century), including the ones illustrating the history of the nunnery, with Sarmatian costumes, a rich collection of Polish paintings from the 16th-20th century, including a series of paintings showing the life of king Casimir I the Restorer (17th century, from the Benedictine abbey in Tyniec), representing a Baroque historical set of significance for the history of Polish art.
The nunnery is a proof of endurance of the Benedictine rules, modified along with the historical changes taking place in the Catholic Church. The significance of the abbey in Staniątki is all the greater due to the fact that it was a source of restoration of Benedictine nunneries in other parts of the historical Republic of Poland (Vilnius, Nesvezh).
The nunnery in Staniątki was an important education centre for women over the centuries. As a repository of historical relics, a community cultivating the memory of benefactors from the Piast dynasty era, and a live organism subject to influences of the Sarmatian tradition, emanated the spirit of national traditions and patriotism through the nunnery school, having impact on the subsequent generation of alumni.
The abbey is a treasury and source of the Polish historical liturgical music. A unique tradition of liturgical vocalisations, dating back to the Middle Ages, has been continued within the nunnery both as part of everyday routine and in the form of special concerts attracting numerous listeners.
Biographies of benefactors and works of art dedicated to them were created. In 1767 tombs of the benefactors were opened and their remnants were buried in a new sarcophagus, in a specially designated crypt. Following the First Partition of Poland, in 1772 nuns from a closed down nunnery in Jarosław found refuge in Staniątki. The convent was saved from dissolution owing to the school for girls, which was transformed into a state-run school in 1784.
The emperor, who visited the nunnery and the school in 1787, granted a subsidy to the school. At the initiative of sister Anna Kiernicka, the art of chronicling developed within the nunnery. Under the supervision of abbess Bogumiła Mechtylda Duwall, the nunnery and the school gained high reputation throughout Galicia. In the external world, the order propagated models of religious life through cooperating with the Jesuits. From 1836 onwards, the nunnery organised missions for the local population, while from 1843 – for the Diocese of Tarnów. The sisters supported the insurgents in 1831 and 1863.
On February 24, 1846, during the Galician Slaughter (a peasant uprising in Austrian‑ruled Galicia, during which Galician peasants—encouraged by Austrian authorities—killed an estimated 1,000 Polish nobles and destroyed around 500 manors between February and March 1846), peasants stormed the nunnery, but luckily there were no casualties. In the 19th century the nunnery school continued its development. At first, separate classes for children from villages and lay women from noble families were established. In 1843 a class for boys was established as well. In the years 1855-1869 the curriculum began to be gradually enriched. In 1869 the school lost its status of a public school, but it managed to maintain the education level and high repute. Education was the order’s priority.
Traveling to The Abbey of St. Adalbert in Staniątki, Poland:
Staniątki is located in southern Poland, 13 miles (22 km) from Krakow and 3.1 miles (5 km) southwest of Niepołomice, in the vicinity of the Niepołomice Forest.
Address: Staniątki, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland.
Visit the official website of The Abbey of St. Adalbert in Staniątki, Poland.