Four destructions before the first success
Before the present church rose, the site lost its place of worship several times over. The first masonry church, founded by the bishops of Wrocław, was finished around 1200. The Mongol invasion of 1241 destroyed it, a fire in 1249 and fighting in 1285 damaged it again, and its eastern end was pulled down late in the fourteenth century.
The Gothic church went up in two campaigns. The chancel was begun before 1392, paid for by Bishop Wenceslaus, Duke of Legnica. The nave built during the 1390s burned down in 1401, however, and an epidemic dried up the funding.
Things turned when the town council took the project over: from 1424 to 1430 the work was led by Peter of Frankenstein (Piotr z Ząbkowic in Polish), who took Gniezno cathedral as his model. It is his church that stands in Nysa today.
A hall church, where every aisle is the same height
The basilica is a three-aisled hall church of nine bays, built of stone and brick. "Hall" here means the side aisles rise to exactly the same height as the central one. The effect is nothing like a true basilica: there is no clerestory above the nave, so light enters only from the sides, low down, between twenty-four piers.
The vault reaches about twenty-eight metres and the building is nearly sixty-nine metres long. Above it sits a roof of some four thousand square metres and around twenty-three metres in height — barely lower than the walls holding it up. Seen from outside, it is the roof that registers first, and it decides the whole town's skyline.
Sixteen Gothic chapels ring the nave, joined by two Baroque ones: the Blessed Sacrament chapel of 1679 and the Trinity chapel of 1752. A fire in 1542 brought the nave vault down; it was replaced with a star vault and the roof rebuilt before 1551. The vaults you see now date from 1891.
The tower that was meant to reach a hundred metres
Standing apart from the church is the four-storey belfry. Work on it began in 1474 and continued, with interruptions, until 1548; the fourth storey was roofed over in 1516. It was never finished: the original plans called for a hundred to a hundred and twenty metres, and it stopped at about forty-four.
That cut-off shape — a heavy, truncated block with no spire — became the town's emblem in its own right. Eight bells hung in it until 1914; the largest, St James, weighing over eight tonnes, melted in the fire of 1945.
In 2005 the Treasury of St James opened inside the tower, displaying vestments, liturgical plate and mementoes of the bishops who kept their residence in Nysa.
The bishops' seat and eight graves
From 1650 to 1810 Nysa was the seat of the prince-bishops of Wrocław, who moved their court here after the Thirty Years' War. That is why locals still call the church the cathedral, although formally it is not one: eight bishops of Wrocław are buried inside, along with the heart of Bishop Frederick of Hesse.
That episcopal past explains the remarkable number of funerary tablets set into the chapel walls and laid into the floor. One of the best known commemorates Vincent Hortensius, who died in 1555.
The Baroque period rearranged the interior wholesale: the number of altars fell from forty-three to twenty-three and many Gothic works were taken out. One of those original forty-three survives, a late Gothic Passion triptych from the early sixteenth century. Alongside it, the finest pieces include a Beautiful Madonna of about 1410 and a painting of the Fourteen Holy Helpers of 1524, attributed to the circle of Albrecht Dürer.
The fire of March 1945 and a roof made of steel
The Napoleonic bombardment of 1807 and the neo-Gothic restoration of the interior between 1889 and 1895, directed by the architect Joseph Ebers, changed the church considerably — the latter destroyed the Baroque frescoes and removed the tomb of Bishop Jacob von Salza.
The worst day, though, was 21 March 1945. Fire took the roof, the organ case, two side chapels and the Crucifixion group, and the largest bell melted in the tower. Rebuilding only began in 1957, to designs by Feliks Kanclerz; the new roof structure is steel, and the work finished around 1961. The church was reconsecrated in 1959 by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński.
Formal recognition came later: the heritage register in 1955, the rank of minor basilica from Pope Benedict XVI on 25 July 2009, and designation as a Historic Monument by order of the President of Poland on 28 February 2011.
Getting there
- By car — Nysa sits on national road 46 between Kłodzko and Opole; the basilica is in the centre by the market square, so park in town.
- By train — Nysa station is on the lines from Opole and from Kłodzko, and the market square is a fifteen-minute walk away.
- On foot in town — the church, the belfry, the old weigh house and the works of the Nysa fortress all fall within a single walk; the old town is compact.
- By bike — cycle routes run in from Lake Nyskie and the valley of the Nysa Kłodzka, and the basilica's tower is visible from far off as a landmark.
Worth knowing
An hour covers the interior and its chapels, but it rewards two circuits: one straight down the nave, one around the outside of the chapels, because each shows you entirely different things. The tablets read best in daylight in the early afternoon, when the sun comes through the south windows.
The belfry and the treasury are a separate item and not always open at the same times as the church, so check current information at the source before travelling. Visiting is also restricted during services.
The sensible plan pairs the basilica with the rest of Nysa's monuments: the weigh house on the market square, the bastions and forts of the Nysa fortress, and the lake north of town. Nysa makes a good stop on the route between the Kłodzko Valley and Opole.
How to get there and practical info
- Location
- central Nysa, by the market square, Opole Voivodeship
- Built
- chancel before 1392, hall nave 1424–1430 under Peter of Frankenstein; belfry 1474 to 1548, never completed
- Layout
- three-aisled hall of nine bays, twenty-four piers, vault at about 28 metres, length nearly 69 metres
- Chapels
- sixteen Gothic, plus the Baroque Blessed Sacrament (1679) and Trinity (1752) chapels
- Belfry
- free-standing, four storeys, about 44 metres; the plans called for a hundred
- Burials
- eight bishops of Wrocław, and the heart of Bishop Frederick of Hesse
- Heritage status
- heritage register since 1955; minor basilica since 25 July 2009; Historic Monument by order of the President of Poland of 28 February 2011
- Time needed
- about an hour inside, an hour and a half with the treasury in the tower
- Current opening times and tickets
- official website of the Nysa commune
When to go
The interior is still cold but the light is already long — a good time for the tablets and for the chapel circuit without crowds. From the tower you can watch the Nysa Kłodzka valley turning green.
The thick walls keep the hall cool on hot days, and the town is at its busiest, with the lake adding to the draw. The church is fullest around midday.
Low light through the south windows picks out the sandstone and brick most sharply, and the colours in the chapels warm up. A quiet season for a long visit and for the Treasury of St James.
Short days and a cold interior, but emptiness and quiet. The massive roof and the truncated tower look their most imposing under snow — the best moment for photographs from the market square.
Other sights in Opole Voivodeship
Straight-line distances from „Basilica of St James and St Agnes in Nysa" — calculated from real coordinates. By road it is often further.
Where to stay nearby
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