Kaplica Królewska, Gdańsk

Kaplica Królewska is a Roman Catholic chapel in Gdańsk’s Main City, attached to St Mary’s Church. Its Baroque design—an exuberant architectural language made for drama and movement—makes it exceptional here. Between the neighbouring house fronts, the façade holds its own with pilasters that frame the entrances; above them, a large dome is joined by smaller cupolas.

This chapel exists because Gdańsk’s Catholics needed a place of worship while St Mary’s Church was under Protestant control. Building work lasted from 1678 to 1681, supported by King John the Third Sobieski and by money Andrzej Olszowski left in his will. Olszowski contributed eighty thousand złotys, and the king added twenty thousand.

Tylman van Gameren designed the chapel, Barthel Ranisch oversaw its construction, and Andreas Schlüter created its interior decoration. The church received its consecration on the sixteenth of October 1685. War later scarred it badly during the 1945 siege of Gdańsk, but reconstruction followed soon after. Today, this small church remains part of St Mary’s Church and is protected as a regional heritage monument.