Postdominican St. Jacob's church

Location: Racibórz-Stare Miasto, Rynek
Tourist route:
- Husarii Polskiej
- Polskich Szk. Mniejszość

The church was erected between 1246 and 1258 for the Dominican monastery. One of the Dominican monks was Wincenty from Kielcza, the alleged author of the lost Dominican chronicle in which (presumably in Racibórz) the first sentence in Polish appeared. It was a cry: gorze szo nam stalo, raised by duke Henryk Pobożny when he saw that the defeat of the Polish army in the battle of Legnica (1241) was inevitable. Wincenty is also the author of the Gaude Mater Polonia anthem and The two lives of St. Stanisław from Szczepanowo. The town fire of 1300 ruined the first church and monastery buildings. In the reconstruction process the chancel and the tower were enlarged. In the following reconstruction process after the 1574 fire, renaissance vaults were introduced. Later the interior was enriched with Baroqueque elements. In the medallion chapel one should look at The Joyful Mystery of Mother of Christ altar, created in 1659 by Salomon Steinhoff. The St. Cross chapel (interestingly decorated) is a tomb oratorio of the Gaszynowie family. Between 1823 and 1829 the monastery was knocked down. In 1874 the church was rebuilt in pseudo Romanesque style, preserving many Gothic elements. Today the church has got three crypts: underneath the St. Cross chapel, the Rosary chapel and the St. Walenty chapel. It is claimed that in the basement of the church lie the remains of its founders: Mieszko Otyły and Opole-Racibórz Władysław.