Klasztor oo. Karmelitów na Piasku w świetle badań archeologicznych w 2006 roku

Abstrakt

THE CARMELITE MONASTERY “NA PIASKU” (“ON THE SAND”) IN THE LIGHT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN 2006

Carmelite Friars came to Kraków in 1397 from the monastery of Our Lady of the Snow in Prague. The founders of the monastery granted the new community a stretch of land situated in the Piasek (lit. “sand”) suburb of Kraków, by the road which approached the city via Szewska Gate. Thus, the Carmelites settled in the church which had been under construction since 1395. The construction of the church and monastery complex was not finished until the 2nd half of the 15th century. Over the three hundred years that followed (16th through 18th centuries) the church and the monastery were damaged several times: in 1587 the troops of Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria set the monastery buildings on fire, in the period 1655–1657 they suffered severe damage during the Swedish occupation of Kraków, and in 1768 they were badly affected by the Russian siege of the city. Each time, after the foreign forces had receded, the monastery was rebuilt and extended. In the 2nd half of the 18th century a new outbuilding, a coach house, a stable with a pantry and a granary, a smithy, as well as carpenter’s, tailor’s and cobbler’s workshops were built on the premises. The new buildings were situated on the north and the south sides of the domestic courtyard. So far, the buildings belonging to the Carmelite monastery complex have not been the subject of systematic archaeological research. In 1963 and 1964 several surveys were conducted in the area situated outside the oldest monastery buildings, i.e. in the south section of the domestic courtyard, in the south-east part of the gardens and in Garbarska Street. 12th- and 13th-century artefacts, as well as various ceramic items (prehistoric, late mediaeval and modern) were discovered. The current archaeological research has been undertaken in connection with the planned construction of a “Pilgrim’s House” in the immediate vicinity of the 18th-century buildings. 28 digs (inside the buildings, near their external walls and on the outskirts of the garden) have been made during the excavation works. Archaeologists have reached the level of natural subsoil (sand) which seemed similar to natural subsoil structures which have been discovered in marshland areas. The old humus layer on top of the natural sand layer acted as the usable soil in the domestic zone of the monastery complex until mid-18th century. Several shards of pottery dated to the end of the early Middle Ages and the end of the late-mediaeval era (15th century), as well as many fragments of 16th- and 17th-century pottery have been found on the site. Artefacts from the 17th to the early 19th century proved to be relatively most popular. The humus layer was probably used as the outer surface of the gardens and the domestic section at the back of the monastery complex until the construction of the outbuilding, coach house, carpenter’s workshop and other domestic buildings in the 2nd half of the 18th century. Inside the newly-erected buildings and in their immediate surroundings usable earth floors, as well as brick and stone floors were built. General maintenance works and levelling of the entire monastery grounds were also completed at that time. Embankments which were to serve as the foundations for the new usable layers were also constructed then. Sometimes those were additionally covered with a layer of small cobblestones which formed a sort of band embracing the walls of the buildings, or a path leading to the domestic back of the monastery. Above all these layers lies the thick (over 100 cm) layer of 20th-century deposits. Current archaeological research has confirmed that the north-west section of the monastery complex remained free of any permanent buildings until the 2nd half of the 18th century – that area was used as farmland, meadows, gardens and orchards, probably due to unfavourable natural conditions of the land.