Kościół pw. Świętego Piotra i Pawła, Gdańsk

Before you is Kościół pw. Świętego Piotra i Pawła, the historic parish church of Stare Przedmieście on Żabi Kruk. Its story begins in 1397, when it was built as a branch of St Mary’s Church.

The brick Gothic character means a medieval manner made with brick rather than carved building stone, and this is among Gdańsk’s largest Gothic churches. Notice the tower’s weighty outline and the long sweep of the church walls. Fire destroyed the earlier church in 1424; rebuilding followed, and the parish was established in 1456.

Over later centuries, additions raised the walls, formed vaulting, and gave the church its substantial tower. This became the leading church of Gdańsk’s Reformed Protestants from 1590 until 1945. Worship here was heard in Polish, English, French, and German, an unusually vivid trace of a city open to many communities.

War brought devastation in 1945, when bombing and fire collapsed roofs, much vaulting, and several pillars. Reconstruction gradually returned the church to use, and state authorities transferred it to Roman and Armenian Catholics in 1958. A later roof fire damaged the sacristy and chancel area, yet the furnishings survived.