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Founded: c. 1250Category: Religious sites in Denmark
Historical period: The First Kingdom (Denmark)
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Stokkemarke Church dates from the mid-1200s. It was built in the Romanesque style with later additions in the Gothic period. The church was dedicated to St. Clement in 1396 although it was later associated with St. George, probably as a result of a panel from St Jørgens Hospital in Bregerup which hung in the church until 1878. A reliquary found in the high altar was a gift from Bishop Gisike of Odense (1286–1300), possibly a gift for the reconsecration of the altar on the completion of the apse which is just slightly older than the chancel. From the 14th century, the church was the property of the Crown but from the beginning of the 16th century, it was administered by Engelborg Manor on Nakskov Fjord. In 1687, it was transferred to the Bishop of Odense and later to Knuthenborg until it gained independence in 1912.
The church consists of a Late Romanesque chancel and nave and an apse, sacristy, porch and tower which were added during the Gothic period. It is built mainly of red brick with some fieldstone and with limestone trimmings. The chancel has corner lesenes and saw-tooth decorations. Both the north door and the former south door are now bricked up but traces of the original round Romanesque arches can still be seen. The tower is unusually large and almost as wide as the nave. The tower room has a pointed arch and a star-shaped vault. There is a small spire with a copper dome.
The chancel has a pointed arch and a vaulted Gothic ceiling in six segments. The original Romanesque windows in the nave were first converted into large Gothic windows with pointed arches before being replaced by today's smaller more modern windows which probably date from 1815. The cross on the altar dates from the end of the 15th century and was originally on the chancel arch. The Renaissance pulpit has four shell-shaped niches with figures of the Evangelists flanked by pilasters and covered with pointed arches.
References:The Cloth Hall in Kraków dates to the Renaissance and is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the main market square in the Kraków Old Town (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978).
The hall was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, the hall was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the east – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported textiles, lead, and salt from the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
Kraków was Poland's capital city and was among the largest cities in Europe already from before the time of the Renaissance. However, its decline started with the move of the capital to Warsaw in the very end of the 16th century. The city's decline was hastened by wars and politics leading to the Partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century. By the time of the architectural restoration proposed for the cloth hall in 1870 under Austrian rule, much of the historic city center was decrepit. A change in political and economic fortunes for the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ushered in a revival due to newly established Legislative Assembly or Sejm of the Land. The successful renovation of the Cloth Hall, based on design by Tomasz Pryliński and supervised by Mayor Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz, Sejm Marshal, was one of the most notable achievements of this period.
The hall has hosted many distinguished guests over the centuries and is still used to entertain monarchs and dignitaries, such as Charles, Prince of Wales and Emperor Akihito of Japan, who was welcomed here in 2002. In the past, balls were held here, most notably after Prince Józef Poniatowski had briefly liberated the city from the Austrians in 1809. Aside from its history and cultural value, the hall still is still used as a center of commerce.
On the upper floor of the hall is the Sukiennice Museum division of the National Museum, Kraków. It holds the largest permanent exhibit of the 19th-century Polish painting and sculpture, in four grand exhibition halls arranged by historical period and the theme extending into an entire artistic epoch. The museum was upgraded in 2010 with new technical equipment, storerooms, service spaces as well as improved thematic layout for the display.
The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art was a major cultural venue from the moment it opened on October 7, 1879. It features late Baroque, Rococo, and Classicist 18th-century portraits and battle scenes by Polish and foreign pre-Romantics.