Chapel with a Replica of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

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The chapel with a replica of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem was built about 1530 when the convent of the Holy Sepulchre was headed by prefect Tomasz Bylica from Olkusz. It is currently one of the three chapels remaining to this day (along with the ones in Przeworsk and Nysa) that were built by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, with the Miechów chapel being the oldest one. The tradition maintains that the chapel was built in the location of the first Romanesque church funded by Prince Jaxa. The chapel is the central building, square in plan, crowned with a dome equipped with a lantern, supported on squinches. The Holy Sepulchre consisting of 2 parts occupies the central place. The lower, stone part comes from the period when the chapel was built. The upper wooden part was added in the 18th century. There is a stone sarcophagus inside. The ceiling of the burial chamber is polychromed. A renaissance polychrome depicting decorative coffers with rosettes remains in the cupola vault of the chapel. The right corner squinch contains the coat of arms of queen Bona Sforza and the left one holds the Jagiellonian coat of arms with an eagle. A renaissance stoup with the Wilcze Zęby coat of arms belonging to Andrzej Batory can be seen at the entrance to the chapel. After their arrival in Miechów, the friars of the Holy Sepulchre organised a pilgrimage sanctuary focused on the copy of the Holy Sepulchre. Numerous pilgrimages were and are being made to the Holy Sepulchre in Miechów, which is why Miechów has been called the Polish Jerusalem. Kings were also pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre, for example Andrew II of Hungary, Casimir the Great, Władysław Jagiełło, Jadwiga of Poland, Sigismund Augustus, Sigismund the Old, Stefan Batory, Sigismund III Vasa and John Casimir Vasa. Pope John Paul II often visited the Holy Sepulchre in Miechów when he was still a bishop.


 
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