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Legnica

Sights in Legnica

  1. Piast Castle

    The brick Piast Castle on the northern edge of the Old Town should be your first port of call. Erected in the 13th century, it was rebuilt in Gothic style (two towers from that period survive), then thoroughly modernised in the 1530s as a Renaissance residence, and again in 1835 when the noted German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel gave it a neoclassical look. Enter through the main gate, which is embellished with a Renaissance portal (1533), the only significant remnant of the 16th-century renovation.

    A glass pavilion in the middle of the courtyard shelters the foundations of the 13th-century Romanesque Castle Chapel. The castle is now part of the city university.

    reviewed

  2. Franciscan Church of St John the Baptist

    The Baroque Franciscan Church of St John the Baptist, southwest of the castle and north of the Rynek, is Legnica’s most important church. The chapel off the right-hand (east) wall is actually the sanctuary of the former Gothic church, set at right angles to the existing one. Richly decorated, with a spectacular painted ceiling, the chapel also houses the extravagant Legnica Piasts mausoleum. Enquire at the Museum of Copper nearby and they will open the chapel for you and show you around.

    reviewed

  3. Cathedral of Ss Peter and Paul

    At the southern end of the Rynek, the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul retains two original Gothic doorways. The one on the northern side (facing the Rynek) has a splendid (though recut) tympanum depicting the Adoration of the Magi, while that on the west depicts Mary with the infant Jesus. The interior has the usual hotchpotch of furnishings, of which the oldest piece, the bronze baptismal font with bas-reliefs in the chapel off the left aisle, dates from the late 13th century and is reputedly the oldest metal font in Poland.

    reviewed

  4. Marian Church

    The Marian Church is one of the oldest churches in Silesia but refurbished in mock-Gothic style in the 19th century. It’s used today by the small Protestant community for Sunday services and doubles as a venue for cultural events, such as organ and chamber music concerts.

    reviewed

  5. Legnica Piasts Mausoleum

    The chapel of the Franciscan Church of St John the Baptist houses the extravagant Legnica Piasts Mausoleum. Inquire at the Museum of Copper nearby and they will open the chapel for you and show you around.

    reviewed

  6. New Townhouses

    Have a look at the luridly coloured New Townhouses along ul Szpitalna and ul Środkowa to the southwest of the Marian Church, which are trying to blend in with the older ones.

    reviewed

  7. Castle Chapel

    A glass pavilion in the middle of the courtyard of the Piast Castle shelters the foundations of the 13th-century Romanesque Castle Chapel.

    reviewed

  8. Museum of Copper

    Museum of Copper.

    reviewed