Przyczynek do stanu badań nad zagadnieniem najstarszych kamienic krakowskich i ich lokalizacji na działce modularnej

Abstract

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE EARLIEST STONE AND BRICK HOUSES IN KRAKOW AND TH EIR LOCATION ON THE MODULAR PLOT

The paper deals with several buildings from the group of the earliest stone and brick houses (kamienica) in Kraków dating back to the early 13th century and the first half of the 14th century, erected in the city at the time of the Town Charter of 1257 and in the territories incorporated into Kraków ca 1300. Built of stone (bricks were used in the architectural details, although their application as the basic building material was also practiced), the old ground floors of these houses have been preserved in the basements of numerous kamienica type buildings in Kraków. The issue of the earliest stone and brick houses was discovered by three researchers: Waldemar Komorowski, Marek Łukacz, and Tomasz Liniecki. The author of this paper discusses the objects discovered and studied by him during the works recommended by the conservation authorities in Kraków. Th e distinctive buildings in this group are the houses located at Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) and numbered 35, 36 and 42, characterized by complex plans whose development dates back to before the middle of the 14th century. The original stone and brick buildings, incorporated into the university edifices called the Collegium Maius and the Collegium Minus in the 15th century, were discovered within the block no. 27 in the western section of the oldest part of the city. Relatively many original stone and brick structures had existed in the area of the Church of St Cross and the Holy Spirit Hospital, located on the outskirts of Main Market Square. The ground floors of three of such buildings were discovered in the stone and brick houses at 23 Św. Krzyża St and on the corner of 31 Św. Marka St and 16 Św. Krzyża St. Apart from the stone and brick buildings, wooden structures, built most probably using the light-frame technique, also existed in the city in the late 13th century and the fi rst half of the 14th century. Neighbouring on one another in a single parcel, the two types of structures were often merged into elaborate complexes.