Krzyżanowski Chapel

The cemetery mausoleum was built on the site of the former Cetner chapel in 1890-1891, in the then fashionable neo-Gothic style, according to a design by Jan Tomasz Kudelski. The construction work was carried out by the well-known Lvov firm of Jan Lewiński. The chapel, which was commissioned by Stanisław Krzyżanowski to commemorate his mother, is built of brick and has a bell (turret) covered with copper. Above the entrance there is an inscription: PAMIĘCI NAJDROŻSZEJ / MATKI // and on the back wall three plaques - on the upper one inscription: TEOFILA TEODORA / Z TARGOWSKICH / 1°ŚL. KRZYŻANOWSKA / 2°ŚL. KALICIŃSKA / *1/4 1829 +20/7 1890 middle plaque: Z KRZYŻANOWSKICH / STANISŁAWA / POKORNOWA / *20.IV.1885 .. / +6. XII. 1926. //. Tables inside: ZOSIA / KRZYŻANOWSKA / *4. WRZEŚNIA 1889, +3. WRZEŚNIA 1899 R. //, and DR STANISŁAW KRZYŻANOWSKI / ADWOKAT KRAJOWY / UR. 11 JULY 1848. +10 MARCH 1899 //. The roof is adorned with distinctive sandstone ridge-chimers and stone masquerades in the windows glazed with stained glass made by the renowned Tiroler Glasmalerai und Mosaik Anstalt of Innsbruck. The sculptural details are most likely the work of Kudelski's collaborator, Piotr Vitalis Harasimowicz. The interior is accessed by steps, and their balustrade is a masterpiece of metalwork. The whole is complemented by elements of colourful, glazed ceramics and wall paintings.

A few words about the designer

Jan Tomasz Kudelski (1861-1937) was active in Lviv, not only designing new buildings, but also participating in many reconstructions, including the Potulicki Palace at 4 Jana Matejki Street, the Siemieński-Lewicki Palace at 19 Piekarska Street, the former St. Joseph's Orphanage at 61 Piekarska Street, and several villas and tenement houses. He later became the town architect in Stanislawow and also ran his own construction company. His designs were used to build, among others, the Railway Administration Building, the Austro-Hungarian Bank, the local Main Post Office and a branch building of the Krakow Mutual Insurance Society "Florianka". From 1919. Kudelski was associated with Warsaw, working as a designer at the Ministry of Public Works.

The Polonica Institute carried out conservation work on the chapel in 2019-2020.