Nysa’s mighty cathedral dominates the northern end of the Rynek with its imposing walls of time-soiled brick and a vast gabled roof – one of the steepest in Europe. Built in two stages, its current Gothic exterior dates to 1430 – aside from remodelling after a fire in 1542, little has changed. Of note are the fine stone double portal and the 18 brick columns striding across an austere, echoing interior last updated in the late 19th century.
On closer inspection, you’ll see that its side chapels (a total of 18) boast wonderful stained glass and a wealth of tombstones, funeral monuments and epitaphs, making up the largest collection of funerary sculpture in any Silesian church.
The free-standing block next to the cathedral is the bell tower, which was begun 50 years after the church was built; it was originally intended to be more than 100m high. Despite 40 years’ work it reached only half that height, and consequently looks truncated and oddly proportioned, especially with the tiny turret tacked onto it.
