Ratownicze badania wykopaliskowe w rejonie bazyliki Św. Trójcy na terenie południowej części placu Dominikańskiego w Krakowie

Abstract

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS NEAR THE BASILICA OF THE HOLY TRINITY IN THE SOUTH PART OF DOMINICAN SQUARE IN KRAKÓW

Rescue excavations in Dominican Square (Plac Dominikański)  in front of the south aisle of the Dominican  Church of the Holy Trinity and in front of the west façade  of the Chapel of St Rose of Lima (the Lubomirski Chapel)  were carried out in the summer of 2011 due to road surface  repair and redevelopment works.  The result of the research was the uncovering of relics  of a 14th-century, polygonal chapel (aka the Royal Chapel)  whose foundation is tentatively linked with the family of  Otto of Pilcza (Pilecki). Architectural analysis of the discovered  relics also enabled theoretical localization of the  corner buttress of the original Dominican hall church.  Moreover, further exploration revealed the remnants of a  12th-century Romanesque structure which was identified  as the original parish church of the Holy Trinity. The recently  uncovered walls were partly used as the foundations  of both the Dominican church, and the 14th-century Pilecki  Chapel. So far, only a fragment of the foundations of the  church’s west wall and of the south-west corner tower have  been revealed.  Another research result was the corroboration of the existence  of a churchyard which, until now, has only been known  from historical sources. On the basis of stratigraphic and ceramological  analyses, it was determined that the necropolis  was used from the 12th century at the latest, until the 18th  century. All of the discovered burials followed a similar burial  rite: no coffins were used (the bodies were probably buried in  shrouds), and there was almost no tomb equipment. The only  antiquity that was found in one of the graves was a rosary  made of glass beads with a badly damaged Caravaca cross.  In the course of the said research, an accumulative, pre-settlement,  early mediaeval layer was also distinguished, which  is connected with the rather intense settlement activity that  existed at this site. This is corroborated both by the thickness  of the layer (60–70 cm), and by the presence of archaeological  features of purely farming character, such as the pit (probably  a storage pit, only a fragment of which has been uncovered),  and a dome kiln used for lime burning. Preliminary conjectures  based on the results of ceramological analysis say that the  settlement was used from the 9th to the 12th century.