Gothic architecture in Poland

The Gothic style arrived in Poland in the first half of the 13th century with the arrival of members of the Dominican and Franciscan orders. The first elements of the new style are evident in the foundation of the Dominican Trinity church in Kraków (1226–1250), built by Bishop Iwo Odrowąż. Another of the earliest manifestations of the Gothic in Poland was the rebuilding of the Wrocław Cathedral which started in 1244. The earliest building was completely covered in Poland, built in Gothic style chapel is considered St. Hedwig in Trzebnica (1268–1269) in the monastery of Cistercian.

In the north and west of the country, there are some scarce Romanesque predecessors (see here). Most Gothic buildings in Poland are made of brick, and belong to the Baltic Brick Gothic, especially in northern Poland (see Significant Brick Gothic buildings in Poland). Nonetheless, not all Gothic buildings in Poland are made of brick. For example, the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków is mostly stone-built. Poland also has some Gothic fieldstone churches, mostly of relatively small size. The centers of Polish Gothic are Kraków, Gdańsk, Toruń and Wrocław.

The reign of the king Casimir the Great was the time of the greatest flowering of gothic architecture in Poland. For the second time a similar development took place in the late Gothic phase, during the reign of Casimir the Jagiellonian.

In the region of Lesser Poland (on the south) buildings were built of brick with stone blocks to the implementation details. Churches built in the area are often two-nave. Are also found very high basilica of the aisles. Silesia resembles gothic solution of Malopolska with influences from the Czech. Here, too, in addition to the blows of stone bricks were used. One of the characteristics is the location of the tower – at the intersection of the transept of the church choir, on the south-east. The architecture of the northern lands strongly influenced patterns inspired by the Teutonic Order state buildings and other cities of Hansa. Brick churches are mainly Pomerania halls of mighty towers, usually situated in the main axis. Much less common is the basilica. In Mazovia not developed different forms of Gothic. Occurring on this earth buildings are characterized by rather simplified forms already known.

History of Gothic in Poland
On the Polish lands, the Gothic arrived with the Cistercians, who used early Gothic elements in 1214 in the church of Cisterki in Trzebnica (ribbed vault in the eastern crypt and under the gallery) and in the monastic churches in Jędrzejów from 1210 and Koprzywnica. The more intense trend of Gothic architecture began to spread thanks to the orders of Dominicans and Franciscans at the end of the first half of the thirteenth century. The first elements of the new style are visible in the brick Basilica of Sts. Built in Iwo Odrowąż in the years 1226 – 1250. Of the Trinity in Krakow. In this Dominican church, belonging to the times late Romanesque was performed ogival bows międzynawowe. The Dominican and Franciscan churches, built in the early Gothic style, are characterized according to the rule of the order by the simplicity of form and the lack of towers, stained glass windows and rich décor. Typically, a long, rectangular presbytery, intended for monks, was covered with cross-rib vaults. The body separated by the lectorium was covered with a ceiling or open roof truss. There are also a few Cistercian buildings. One of the earliest signs of Gothic in Poland was also the reconstruction of the cathedral in Wrocław after 1244, which was expanded from the east by a straight-closed brick choir with a by-pass, and two small towers that remained unfinished until today. The first chapel in Poland built entirely in the Gothic style is considered to be the chapel of St. Jadwiga in Trzebnica (1268-1269) at the church of Saint. Bartłomiej in the Cistercian monastery. The chapel was rebuilt from an earlier Romanesque chapel and connected to the church with an early gothic portal. The form of Gothic churches is much more varied than those created in the Roman period. Interesting objects, in two different regional style variations, were created inLubiąż, Kamieniec Ząbkowicki and Henryków, and in Oliwa, Pelplin and Koronowo.

The changes taking place in the gothic style were strongly influenced by the changes taking place among the burghers. The location of the cities under the Magdeburg Law and the creation of new centers, whose inhabitants during the fragmentation of the district felt primarily connected with their own region, and not the whole country favored the creation of separate schools of Gothic art. As in other countries, collective orders for the construction of new churches were also submitted in Polish cities. The royal patronage played a significant role. The state reform carried out in the 14th century enabled the financing of many investments of this period. The period of the reign of Casimir the Greatthis is the time of the greatest flowering of Gothic architecture in Poland. For the second time, similar development took place in the Late Gothic phase, during the reign of Casimir the Jagiellonian.

The area of southern Poland, especially the region of Lower Silesia, remained in close contact with the Czech builders. In the Małopolska region, under the royal patronage, construction was called the court style. In this part of the country, the Renaissance (the beginning of the 16th century) was the fastest, also due to the court’s patronage. The architecture of the northern lands was strongly influenced by patterns inspired by the buildings of the Teutonic Order and other cities associated with the Hanseatic League. Wielkopolska, which lost to the benefit of Małopolskaa leading role in the country, did not play a significant role in shaping this style. The architecture of these lands shows many connections with the buildings of Silesia and Pomerania. Masovia, which joined the Crown only in 1526, was modeled above all on Pomeranian art, although the influence of the Cracow school is also visible here. In Mazovia, no different forms of Gothic have been developed. Structures existing on this earth are characterized by a simplification of forms already known before. It was also here that the longest Gothic traditions continued (until the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries). In wooden construction, Gothic influences are visible even longer.

He performed mainly in the region of Mazovia, but he also went beyond its borders. In the nineteenth century, it was even recognized as a Polish style in architecture, giving a pattern to the architects of many neo-gothic churches. Due to the difficult access to the stone suitable for processing, the stone details are almost absent here and all the decorative forms are limited to bricks and later stuccos. This style was built in the sixteenth century – the most prominent representative is Jan Baptysta Wenecjanin.

Characteristics of the style
Gothic architecture in Poland is based on brick construction. The use of this material did not allow the construction of churches with towering silhouettes, fragmented elevations. The walls have a constructional role, reinforced with escarpments, along with massive pillars, support the vaults. The windows placed in the walls have much smaller dimensions. A solid devoid of sculptural decoration is decorated with blends, whose bright color usually separates from the red of the wall. This color combination was also used to decorate the vaults leaving brick ribson the background of the plastered surface of the palate. Glazed brick was also used to decorate the façade. The hall churches were decorated with openwork gables, often with a complicated pattern, usually pinned down.

Contrary to popular belief, there is also wooden Gothic architecture. It is represented in Poland mainly by wooden churches preserved to our times. Among the wooden Gothic temples we can mention the oldest preserved wooden churches in Poland, whose dating is certain. To the Gothic wooden architecture we can include: the Church of All Saints in the Orphans (1456-57), the Church of All Saints in Łaziska (1466-67) or the Church of Sts. Michael the Archangel in Dębno (1490).

In Poland, during the Gothic period, its regional varieties were formed.

Gotyk nadwiślański, so-called Cracow school
In the region of Małopolska, buildings were built of brick with the use of stone blows to make details. Churches built in this area are often two-nave. There are also basilicas with not very high aisles. Their construction was solved in a simplified manner, using a pillar-slope system. The buttresses put up near the walls of the nave were taken above the roofs of the aisles. The most common were also two-part windows and portals.

Gotyk śląski
Until the early fourteenth century, Gothic architecture in Silesia developed in a similar way as in neighboring countries, as can be seen, for example, in the chapel of St. Jadwiga in Trzebnica, the nave of the parish church in Złotoryja, the presbytery of the Dominican church in Wrocław.

However, from the mid-fourteenth to the end of the fifteenth century, in the central part of Lower Silesia a separate coherent mainstream Silesian school of Gothic architecture was created, having a peculiar and original character. He was characterized by the construction of a series of huge parish churches similar to each other. This trend was initiated by the construction of a new aisle of the cathedral in Wroclaw in 1315 by Bishop Henryk of Wierzbno. A raw, articulated interior with flat surfaces and high windows in the nave was created. A great achievement of this school was the solution of the three-part vault (the so-called Piast Vault) consisting of nine shields supported in five points, which solution was borrowed from the cathedral in Krakow. Another example of this trend was the parish church of St. Elżbieta in Wroclaw with a nearly presbytery glass and huge pillars, and a similarly shaped church of the Virgin Mary on the Sand Island in Wroclaw. A common feature of this trend was the relatively modest ornamentation of facades. Another example of the Silesian School is the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Wroclaw, the parish church in Brzeg. The cathedral of St. George belonging to the Silesian school. Stanisława in Świdnica, the basilica in Strzegom and the church of St. Marcin in Jaworfor a change they were enriched with decorations on the facade, which probably resulted from the manifestation of independence by the prince of Świdnica-Jawor Bolek II.

Not connected to the Silesian school is the Nysa parish, which is a separate example of outstanding Gothic architecture in this region. A frequent phenomenon is also rich tracery decoration, and stone portals (the castle chapel in Lubin, the basilica in Świdnica, Strzegom, and Jawor). A common feature in Lower Silesia was the location of the tower at the intersection of the nave with the presbytery of the church. In Lower Silesia, in basilica churches, buttress systems with brick arches routed above the roofs of the side naves and power towers were quite often used. In contrast to the Cracow school, there are no two-nave arrangements in Silesia.

Gotyk pomorski
The brick churches of Pomerania are primarily halls with powerful towers usually located in the main axis. Basilica is much less common.

Secular architecture

locks
From the thirteenth century, the royal and princely residences began to be modernized, expanding the functional program of existing buildings (eg the Wawel Castle, Legnica) and building castles, which could initially be built only with the consent of the ruler. For this reason, the oldest castles had the character of state buildings. Initially, in the thirteenth century, the elements characteristic of castles were placed within functioning wooden and earthquakes, so the first castles were irregular (eg in Opole). After the middle of the thirteenth century, the construction of palatia was also abandoned, which should be combined with the earlier era. The regular shape of the castles spread throughout the Kingdom of Poland during the reign of Casimir the Great and they were built in such a shape even in places of earlier castles (Rawa, Łęczyca, Koło). The castles were also built by, for example, Joannici (Stare Drawsko, Łagów, Swobnica, Pęzino) and the Teutonic Knights, in the territory created by them in Prussia (Malbork, Radzyń Chełmiński, Nidzica) and bishops (Sławków, Lipowiec). In the castles, also towers of final defense were built (referred to as a table) and residential towers (donjon). The best preserved Gothic castles are:

in southern Poland, among others in Chęciny, Czorsztyn, Niedzica, Ojców, Bobolice, Kazimierz Dolny, Będzin, Lipowiec and Ogrodzieniec.
in northern Poland:
built by the Teutonic Order in: Malbork, Nidzica, Golub, Gniew, Radzyń Chełmiński;
or on their strongholds modeled (usually built in episcopal properties) in Kwidzyn, Lidzbark Warmiński, Olsztyn, Reszel.
castles in Mazovia: Castle in Ciechanów, Czersk, Liwa.
castles in Wielkopolska: Castle in Koło, Sieraków, Szamotuły, and Gołańcza.

Town halls
The central place was the big market, where the symbol of municipal authority was built and the main watchtower – the town hall with a high tower. Around the town hall were other buildings related to the function of the urban organism – cloth hall, city scales building, merchant stalls and pillory. An example of an unprocessed town hall in the Gothic style is the Town Hall in Wrocław, the Old Town Hall in Toruń, the Town Hall in Chojna, Gdańsk, and Szczecin. Only the tower has survived from the town hall in Krakow.

Town houses
Existing settlements received in the 13th and 14th centuries tracking new laws (usually based on Magdeburg Law). Urban area is usually divided grid of streets perpendicular to the plot by creating a chessboard layout. Residential buildings, in the upper reaches is still built of wood or timber-framed art. In order to prevent the transmission of fire during the fire, often the wall was increased at the border of two adjacent parcels and tracts of gable roof receives addressed to the agent. Facades of houses stepped or triangular peaks. Houses of rich burghers sometimes received in the form of a richer decor. More often it was a topic mimicking polychrome wall, and wimpergi tracery. An example of building in the Gothic style is the house of Copernicus in Torun, in Sandomierz Długosz House, oldest building of Jagiellonian University – Collegium Maius, building on ul. Łazienna 22 in Toruń.

A town hall called Ratusz was a symbol of a city’s power in the Middle Ages. Around the town hall were other buildings associated with the function of the urban organism: hall, municipal building, weight, merchant stalls and pillory. Examples of unconverted later Gothic town halls include the Wrocław Town Hall, the Old Town Hall in Toruń and town halls in Chojna, Gdańsk and Szczecin. Only the Gothic tower of the Ratusz town hall in Kraków has survived. The gothic town hall on the Old Town Market Square in Warsaw was dissembled in 1820.

The existing towns became independent by receiving new location rights (most often under the Magdeburg Law). The area of cities was divided by a network of usually perpendicular streets into plots forming a chessboard layout. Residential buildings, in higher parts, were still built of timber or half-timbered architecture. In order to make the fire transmission more difficult during a fire, walls were often raised at the border of two neighboring plots, and the gable roof receives areas directed inwards. The fronts of the houses were topped with stepped or triangular gables. Houses of wealthy burghers sometimes received a richer decor in the form of bricked fences against a background of white blends. More often, it was a polychrome imitating the thread of the wall, tracery and wimpergi. An example of a tenement house in the Gothic style is the Copernicus House in Toruń, the Długosz House in Sandomierz, the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University – Collegium Maius, a tenement house at ul. Łazienna 22 in Toruń.

City walls and gates
The city was surrounded by defensive walls, sometimes in the place of earlier embankments and such investments were carried out for many years, making frequent modernizations. Older fortifications often raised, and the final straight battlements replaced by more modern machikułami. The defensive walls were often interrupted by towers open at the distance of the city, about 40-60 m away. Cities sometimes received a new, second strip of defensive walls (eg Wrocław, Toruń), and even a third (eg Toruń). The oldest defensive walls in Poland are located in Toruń: the earliest section at ul. Under the Leaning Tower, dated 1246-1262. The ornamental gates leading to the cities were often preceded in the late Gothic periodbarbacians connected with their neck. The first such defensive form in Poland was established in Toruń – Starotoruński barbican from 1426. The best-preserved barbican in Poland is the Barbican in Krakow. Fragments of defensive walls have survived to this day, most of which have been preserved gates, for example in Szydłów, Sandomierz, Kraków with the Florian Gate and Barbican. Significant parts of the walls have been preserved in Stargard, Prabuty, Pyrzyce, and Toruń. In Chełmno, Strzelce Krajeńskie,Byczyna and Paczków, the city walls are preserved almost entirely.

Castles
From the 13th century began to modernize the seat of royal and princely expanding existing buildings functional program (such as Wawel Castle, Legnica), and building castles, which initially could be built only with the consent of the ruler. For this reason, the oldest castles have public character of the building. Initially, in the 13th century, the characteristic elements of the locks were placed in a role within the wood-earth castles, so the first castles were irregular in shape (e.g., in Opole). After the mid-13th century abandoned the construction palatiów to be connected rather with the earlier epoch. Regular shape of castles spread throughout the Polish Kingdom in the reign of Casimir the Great, and built them into this shape, even in areas of previous castles (Rawa, Łęczyca, Koło). Castles and monasteries built by Joannites (Stare Drawsko, Łagów, Swobnica, Pęzino) and the Teutonic Order, in the state created by them in Prussia (Malbork, Radzyń Chełmiński, Niedzica) and bishops (in Lipowiec). The castles were built or final defense towers (known as stołp) and residential towers (donżon).

The best preserved Gothic castles are:

in Lesser Poland: Chęciny, Odrzykoń, Czorsztyn, Niedzica, Kazimierz Dolny, Bobolice, Będzin, Lipowiec, Ogrodzieniec and others on Trail of the Eagles’ Nests
in northern Poland: built by the Teutonic Order in Malbork, Nidzica, Golub, Radzyń Chełmiński, Gniew; or on their strongholds modeled (usually built on the estates of bishops) in Kwidzyn, Lidzbark Warmiński, Olsztyn, Reszel.
in Mazovia: Castle in Ciechanów, Czersk, Liw.
in Greater Poland: Castle in the Koło, Szamotuły, Gołańcz, Łęczyca.
in Lower Silesia: Siedlęcin Tower, Bolków, Chojnik, Żmigród, Świny

Examples of monuments

Religious construction
monastery churches:
Dominican church of St. Wojciech in Wroclaw, built on the site of an earlier temple from 1241. The construction of the church began with a single-nave corps. In 1330 the presbytery was completed. The tower located in the south-eastern corners, at the intersection of the presbytery and transept was completed in the 14th century and the top was rebuilt in the 15th century.
Dominican church of St. Trinity in Krakow, during the reconstruction of the fourteenth century was arched vaults kolebkowo- network of telescopes in the chancel and the cross-starry vaults in the body. The vault of the nave is supported by a pillar-slope system.

cathedral churches
Wrocław Cathedral Church. St. John the Baptist. The construction of the present church, in the place of earlier buildings, began around 1244 from the presbytery, which was completed in 1271. This part of the church still has many features of the late-Romanesque building. The Corps and St Mary’s Chapel was built in the 14th century and the towers in the 15th century. The cathedral was repeatedly destroyed by fires and renewed. After the destruction in 1945, it was rebuilt. It is a three-nave basilica, without a transept with a strongly elongated presbytery and a rectangular bypass, in which they received cross vaults. The presbytery was covered with a six- sided ribbed vaultand the span bays with cross vaults. Between the presbytery and the corps there is a wider span with a square plan in the main nave. The arms of this span in the side aisles were given to the Piast Vaults. St. Mary’s Chapel, built for a detour, with a small own presbytery, also received tripartite vaults.
The Wawel Cathedral was built on the site of a previously existing church. The construction of the Gothic building was begun in 1320 from the presbytery with a rectangular bypass. On its sides there are two chapels: Saint. Margaret and Saint. John the Evangelist (non-existent). The St. Mary’s Chapel was built behind the byway in the main axis of the church. The presbytery and bypass cover the cross vaults, only the last span of the presbytery and the St Mary’s chapel were covered with three-pillar vaults (so-called “Piast”). The presbytery was completed in 1346. In the years 1330 – 1364, a three-aisle body was constructed (the main nave 19 m high and the side naves 9 m). The vaults of the main nave are supported by a pillar-slope structure.

other basilica churches
St. Mary’s Church in Krakow rebuilt from the hall at the end of the fourteenth century (presbytery in 1384 and the corps in 1395). The vault was made in the fifteenth century (earlier collapsed in 1442). It is a brick basilica with details of stone blows. The naves of the body were covered with cross vaults. The spans of the presbytery received star-shaped vaults. The vault of the nave is supported by a pillar-slope system. The façade is flanked by two towers – the northern one was completed in 1478. It was topped with a late-Gothic helmet. The construction of the southern tower was stopped in 1592 and crowned with a renaissance helmet. Inside the church there is a valuable, gothic onethe altar, the work of Veit Stoss.

The church of Corpus Christi in Krakow was built around 1340 – 1405 as a three-nave basilica without a transept. The body connects with a long presbytery with a height equal to the nave. The whole covers a common, gable roof. The vault of the main nave is supported by a pillar-slope system.

The Cistercian basilica in Pelplin was built in the 13th-14th centuries. The body and the presbytery with a straight end have the same width. They are separated by a cross nave consisting of three spans divided into two bands. All the fields of the basilica are covered with starry vaults, the richest in the arms of the transept (in the northern arm, four columns are supported by one central pillar: in the southern arm only three bay spans are inside the church, the fourth belongs to the cloister). The vault of the nave is supported by hanging buttresses. To the eastern and western walls, in the line of the international pillars, slender towers were added. The tops of both elevations are decorated with blends and ceramic pinnacles.

Church of St. Jakuba in Toruń, a three-nave basilica from the first half of the 14th century. Two rows of chapels nestled between massive buttresses adjoin the aisles. The starry vault of the nave is supported by hanging buttresses ending with pinnacles. Similar pinnacles were placed over the buttresses in the side aisles. Vaults of chapels supported on five headboards, divided by 10 and 11 discs with ribs. Above the first span of the body there is a high tower covered with a double hipped roof and decorated, similarly to the eastern gable, with blends and ornaments made of glazed brick.

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ciechanów – late Gothic, brick pseudobazylika, decorated with zendrówką (the first transept church in Poland). Built in the first quarter of the 16th century on the site of the 14th century wooden church, which burned down in the second half of the fifteenth century. The older church elements include: two granite stoup from the sixteenth century (the main porch and north porch) and the first crucifix from the first half. In the nave, on the left pillar, a late-gothic tombstone of Stanisław Szczurzyński (died 1556), with a low-relief figure of a knight in armor, with an inscription in the border and cartouches in the corners and coats of arms: Ostoja (or Przegonia), Pobóg, Lubicz (inverted) and Prawdzic.
Three-aisled hall churches:
Church of St. Cross and Saint. Bartłomiej in Wrocław, created from 1288 to mid-fourteenth century, the work of master Wilanda. This very high two-story church has a number of solutions rarely found in the architecture of the Polish Gothic, while in the western countries. The interior of the building is divided into vaults on two floors, which is unique in this scale – the lower church of St. Bartholomew and the upper proper św. Cross, almost completely repeating his throw. The four-span presbytery is completed on three sides, the analogous ending has a transept with the same span of the vaults.

Church of St. Janów in Toruń, in its present shape rebuilt after a fire in 1388 and rebuilt in the years 1407 – 1417. Three-aisled, four-bay hall with a characteristic, massive tower from the front partially meshed with the nave. The base of the tower is a square with a side of about 16 m. The tower was completed at an altitude of about 52 m. A bell with a mass of 7 t (Tuba Dei) was hanged on it. The naves of the church have a length of about 56 m and over 27 m in height. They are covered with star-shaped vaults shielded from outside by three parallel roofs. A number of chapels were placed between the broad escarpments supporting the outer walls. The presbytery is built on the rectangular plan to the last span of the central nave.

Church of the Virgin Mary in Toruń, post-Franciscan, built at the end of the 13th century as a single-nave church. After the reconstruction carried out in the 14th century, a three-nave hall with narrow (about 6.5 m wide) aisles was added to the existing nave with a width of 11 m. Inside the south nave there are buttresses and the north nave, which is part of the monastery galleries, has been cut with a gallery. With such a small width of aisles, their height of about 27 m makes the church the building with the largest slenderness in Poland. The top of the church from the presbytery is decorated with three slender turrets with plastered blinds.

Church of the Virgin Mary in Gdańsk, the largest Gothic church in Poland (about 105 m long, 66 m width in the transept and 28-30 m height of naves) and the largest brick temple of Europe from the Middle Ages. It is a three-nave hall cut by a three-nave transept (the projection of the transept is slightly distorted in the north-east corner). Between the buttresses of the aisles, there are rows of chapels. The naves are covered by very richly fragmented crystal and starry vaults. From the west to the temple there is a tower (76 m high) bell tower.

Archcathedral of Saint. John the Baptist in Warsaw – built from the end of the 13th century. A three-aisled hall with an impressive, high roof. Rebuilt many times. After the devastation of the war, the facade was recreated in the style of the Vistula Gothic.

Church of the Virgin Mary in Chełmno, built in the fourteenth century. It is a three-aisled hall with a short presbytery. The church is covered with gable roofs. The roof ridge over the central nave runs along the axis of the church. Each span of the side naves has its own roof with a ridge perpendicular to the axis of the roof of the nave. In this manner, in the side facades decorated with five pairs of peaks laskowaniem brick shut-off from a white background. To the west there are two towers, of which only the northern one was completed. The construction of the south tower was interrupted at the height of the church walls.

Church of St. Catherine in Brodnica – built in the XIII-XIV centuries, with an interestingly solved east peak, decorated with pinnacles and blends.

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Poznan, actually a presbytery of a much larger temple. It is a three-nave, two-bay hall passing through a three-sided presbytery with a bypass, covered with a star-shaped vault.

Church of Corpus Christi in Poznan, built in the fifteenth century as a three-nave, five-span hall with a long presbytery finished with half of the octagon. The external walls are supported by stepped escarpments reaching the cornice. In the windows of the presbytery, there are Gothic gulags and in the wall there is a modest portal decorated with a glazed brick.

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Sand in Wroclaw, monastery Augustinian, built on the site of the Romanesque temple, as a three-nave hall without a transept according to Master Pieszka’s plans. Presents the forms of reduction gothic. The presbytery on the extension of the middle nave received a quadrilateral ending, and the lateral naves reaching the end of the presbytery are closed on three sides. Above the central aisle, star-shaped vaults were built. The side nails were covered with three-part vaults with nine shields in each span. The whole temple is covered with a common roof, and the presbytery is not separated in a block. The west elevation is completely flat, with no embankments and decorations, no peak. Two towers have been planned from the front, but only the south tower has been completed. The original helmet with a defensive gallery not preserved.
Church St. Dorota, Wacław and Stanisław in Wrocław, originally a Franciscan monastery funded by Casimir the Great, built from 1350 as a three-nave, very tall hall with a long, five-span presbytery finished with a pentagonal and covered with a cross vault. In the main nave, star-shaped vaults were made, and in the aisles, transitional vaults (each span received a vault supported in five headboards, ribs divide them into seven disks). Presbytery and naves are covered with separate steep roofs (today the medieval roof truss remains preserved)). Low towers at the end of the side aisles, not exceeding the roof. Initially, the entrances in the side elevations. The west elevation is crowned with a huge decorative ceramic gable with pinnacles.

Gotyk na Kresy
In the eastern territories annexed to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland during the reign of Casimir the Great and currently remaining outside of Poland, such gothic buildings as the cathedral in Lviv (after 1370), castles in Halicz, Lutsk and Trembowla and the Low Castle and High Castle in Lviv were created.. Later, the Gothic parish church in Drohobycz, the Franciscan church in Lviv (non-existent), the church in Kulikowo (now ruined), the church in Skoruły, the monastery in Międzyrzecz, the castle in Jazłowiec and significant parties were built.castle in Kamieniec Podolski.

Source from Wikipedia