Budowanie i trwanie – karty ze średniowiecznych dziejów świątyni parafialnej Starego Miasta Torunia, obecnej katedry pw. św. Jana Chrzciciela i św. Jana Ewangelisty

Abstract

The parish church of Sts. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in Old City of Toruń has been witness to both turbulent historical events and artistic tastes of the dwellers. Every phase of the building of the church may be interpreted in such a way. However, it can be also assumed that during all phases of forming of its material substance (from 1236 until the beginning of the sixteenth century) the more profound meaning was manifested. This was the will to survive and to last, the will of the Church not only considered as a building, but also as an institution which unites and represents the city commune. For this aim the artistic language of the “image” was used in architecture and interior decoration. The commune and the Church exhibited strong cohesion – the interdependent “coherent configuration.” From the erection of the first “oratory” until the construction of the lategothic high hall church the city commune was leaving an artistic imprint of its existence on the architecture and interior of the building. The continuous transformation of the church was its goal, as the church became an evidence and guarantee of the city’s constancy. The building process meant searching for the proper means of expressing the variable religious and spiritual ideas, as well as aspirations of social classes and ruling elites.