History

Legnickie Pole Monastery

The original, medieval foundation of the church and the monastery dates back to the second half of the 14th century and is associated with the funding of one of the descendants of Duke Bolesław III the Generous. This constituted a provostship of the Benedictine monastery in Opatów. There are no evidence of any earlier existing religious centre in this area. At the end of the 15th century a legend arose connecting the construction of the 14th century temple with the foundation of the duchess Hedwig of Silesia (the later saint), the mother of Henry II the Pious who was believed to have found the headless body of her son here, killed during a battle with the Tatars. Equating Legnickie Pole with the Battle of Legnica of 9 April 1241 is also a legend popularized by the owners of the settlement - the Buswoj family. The medieval foundation collapsed after the conversion of the local residents to Protestantism during the Reformation. The church itself gained the status of parish church in the 16th century, one which it holds until today.

Reconstruction of the Benedictine church and the monastery at Legnickie Pole in the place of its former foundation was initiated by Abbot Othmar Zinke in the first quarter of the 18^th century. According to his intentions the new monastery was supposed to be a provostship of subjugated Czech convents in Prague-Brevnov and Broumov. The design of the church was drawn up by the Czech architect Kilian Ignacy Dientzenhofer. The monastery was built first (1723-1726), next the church - construction started on 25 August 1727 and lasted 4 years. This was coordinated by Chrystian Bobersacher of Legnica. The sculptures were made by Karol Józef Hiernle between 1728-1731. The frescoes, painted in 1733, were made by Kosma Damian Asam and the paintings in the side altars by Wacław Lorenz Reiner. The solemn consecration of the church was celebrated on 7 October 1731. It received the invocation of the Holy Cross and St. Hedwig of Silesia. The finishing works were to last until 10 October 1733 with the consecration taking place in the presence of Abbot Zinke in 1738. After 1810, when the Prussian King Frederic William III issued a decree of secularization, its buildings were commandeered by the Prussian army. Between 1836–1841 two higher buildings were annexed on the extensions of the monastery’s northern and southern wing. The garden elevation of the convent (on the eastern side) was rebuilt in a neo-baroque style between 1894–1898 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. During the Second World War a prisoner of war camp was housed there and in the 1960s and 1970s the monastery underwent general repair work. The church was restored between 1932-1935, in 1976 and in 1990. Since 1991 the monastery has been the seat of the State Welfare Centre. On 1 May 2004 the whole post-Benedictine complex of buildings (with its garden pavilion and the nearby Church of the Holy Cross) was granted the status of being a Monument of Polish History. In 2014 the Benedictine temple was raised to the rank of minor basilica.