Altera Roma

This year’s celebration of Kraków’s churches and monasteries brings four days filled with exhibitions and concerts.

Kraków’s long roots of intertwining religious and cultural worlds and its wealth of historical memorabilia and traditions of its churches have earned it the nickname “Rome of the North”. During the Cracovia Sacra Night we will learn more about this heritage, discover its contemporary echoes and admire treasures not usually available to the public.

One of the temples with a special programme for visitors is the Benedictine Sisters Convent in Staniątki, revealing its enclosure, a cycle of historical paintings in the dormitory and a Baroque polychrome in the former apothecary cell. The Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec presents an exhibition about the order’s role in the Christianisation of Poland. We will also see valuable collections at the Carmelite Monastery, St Giles’ Church, the Corpus Christi Basilica and the Bernardine Monastery.

The music programme features the oratorio King Solomon’s Song of Songs: the performance by artists from the Kraków Chamber Opera in Staniątki inaugurates the Ars Cameralis Festival, which continues in August. The Church of Sts Peter and Paul resounds with a premiere of Noa Ain’s opera Joan of Arc prepared by the STU Stage. The Corpus Christi Basilica hosts three concerts, including a performance by the Cappella di Ospedale della Pietà orchestra and choir with soloists, presenting Vivaldi’s sacral works. The result of the Polish-Italian collaboration is the concert House on a Rock by the singer Agnieszka Chrzanowska and the accordionist Marco Lo Russo at the Bernardine Church. And make sure you don’t miss Domenico Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater performed by Capella Cracoviensis at the Church of Immaculate Conception.

But Kraków’s religious heritage isn’t just about Roman Catholicism. We will discover more during concerts of Eastern Orthodox singing and exhibitions at the Eastern Orthodox Church, an ecumenical concert for voice and organ at the Evangelical Church of St Martin, and a performance by Kroke at the Tempel Synagogue.

(Igor Kuranda, “Karnet” magazine)