All Saints’ Church on Grzybowski Square in Warsaw has been fitted with three gates designed by Professor Karol Badyn. The dark grilles in the main portico are adorned with bas-reliefs depicting the six blessed and plaques bearing their names. “After more than 80 years, the main portico of All Saints’ Church is regaining its gates, ” the parish announced on social media. Their installation marks another noticeable change to the church, which has been undergoing a comprehensive renovation in recent years.
All Saints’ Church and the new gates
Before the Second World War, the passageways in the portico were also enclosed by grilles, though these had a more classical form. Karol Badyna’s design draws on this traditional method of demarcating the entrance, whilst introducing contemporary geometry and sculptural elements. The rectangular frames are filled with vertical bars featuring a pattern of small rectangles. The graphite colour contrasts with the cream-yellow façade, whilst the turquoise bas-reliefs, plaques and side panels have a surface reminiscent of patinated metal. Their shade harmonises with the greenish finials of the towers, the figures set high up, the canopy over the lamppost and the church roof. The new gates enclose only the lower part of the arcades, leaving a view of the vaults, hanging lanterns and wooden doors.
Six figures on the three gates
The central gateway is adorned with effigies of Blessed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko – the famous chaplain of ‘Solidarity’ who was murdered by Security Service officers, and of Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, Primate of Poland and defender of the Church’s independence during the Polish People’s Republic. On the adjacent gate to the left are portraits of Blessed Maria Teresa Kowalska, a Capuchin nun who died in the German camp at Działdowo, and Blessed Róża Czacka, founder of the charity providing care for the blind in Laski. The third gate, meanwhile, commemorates Blessed Hanna Chrzanowska – a nurse who organised home care for the sick – and Blessed Marianna Biernacka, who gave her life by volunteering to be executed in place of her pregnant daughter-in-law. The portraits are accompanied by inscriptions, and the vivid relief emphasises the facial features and the folds of the garments.
All Saints’ Church in Warsaw – restoration of the church
All Saints’ Church was built in the second half of the 19th century to a design by Henryk Marconi. The Neo-Renaissance church was severely damaged during the Second World War, and its reconstruction began as early as 1946 and, in fact, continues to this day. In recent years, work has included the renovation of the arcades and the spires of the towers, the repair of the walls, the restoration of the interiors, and the refurbishment of all the decorative elements on the main façade. The light-coloured columns with their ornate capitals, the floral garlands and the pinkish sculptures and reliefs stand out clearly here. The new gates complement this décor.
Source: All Saints’ Church in Warsaw
Photos: WhiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
See also:Architecture in Poland|Renovation|Historic monument|Religious architecture|Warsaw
