Państwo i Społeczeństwo / State and Society

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Journal: Państwo i Społeczeństwo / State and Society

The phenomenon of the pillar-and-buttress construction and its evolution in Kraków’s churches after the mid-15th century

Tomasz Węcławowicz

Language: PL | Published: 03-08-2026 | Abstract | 701

During the Gothic period, structural experiments aimed at facilitating the construction of high naves by weakening the horizontal pressure of the vaults were diverse. External flying buttresses were typically used, but around 1300, in the monumental Cistercian churches in Salem and Sedlec, massive buttresses were added to the inter-nave pillars, rising higher to support the external walls of the clerestory. In the scholarly literature on Gothic basilicas in Kraków, the greatest amount of attention has been paid to the pillar-and-buttress construction system used in Wawel Cathedral after 1320. This system proved so effective that it was repeated in subsequent churches in the city, built in the second half of the 14^th and 15^th centuries. However, after the earthquakes of 1442 and 1443, when the vaults in two chancels collapsed and the cathedral nave wall buckled, the buttresses above the side aisles in the yet-to-be-completed naves of Kazimierz’s basilicas were widened on massive corbels. In this way, by adding weight to the wall structure, the resultant of the vertical and horizontal forces pushing the vaults apart ensured structural stability. This construction technique was unprecedented in Gothic architecture in Poland. It had not been noticed and described in previous architectural and conservation studies. Unfortunately, there are no written sources that would allow us to identify the workshop that introduced this solution. Just as the architectural forms of the Gothic basilicas in Krakow and Kazimierz combine patterns from many European artistic circles, their structure is also the result of the diverse construction experiences of Central European building culture in the late Middle Ages.

2026-08-03