Legend of the two towers of St Mary’s

It’s easy to see that the towers of St Mary’s are of different height. A gory legend explains this architectural disparity.

The two towers of St Mary’s are of different height, which everyone can see. The bugle call is played from the taller tower, while the church bell known as Półzygmunt hangs in the lower tower. There are however no architectural plans that would explain the different heights of the towers. Ask for an explanation and you are likely to hear the following gory legend. Under the reign of Duke Boleslaus the Modest (Bolesław Wstydliwy, 1243-1279) a decision was made to add two towers to the body of the church standing by the Main Market Square. Soon two brothers embarked on the task. When the younger realised that his tower was much shorter, he murdered his brother out of envy, and the construction stopped. However, the murderer was wracked with remorse: on the day when the church was to be consecrated, he pierced his heart with the same knife he used to kill his brother, and dropped dead from the top of his tower to the ground below.

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