Karkonosze
Miejsce: Wojanowska gate and St. Anne’s Chapel
GPS:
50.902930510676 ,
15.737681056206
Wojanowska Tower and adjacent to it bastion, were medieval fortification, which were used to guard the gate which led to the road to Wojanów. Dungeons served as a prison. It is known that on December 4, 1480, due to strong winds, the tower collapsed, burying five people under the rubble. Quickly it was rebuilt to its present form, placing clock at the top, and covering the whole with dome and lantern.
The tower, that guarded the Wojanowska gate was located at the exit of today's Konopnicka street. Moat, a drawbridge, the double set of bars and solid doors, protected the gate.
Until 1775, this site housed an impressive gate strengthened with a tower; the gate allowed entry to the city from Wojanów (hence the name). After it was demolished it was quickly replaced with a new one - more modest, baroque gate with a wicket. Its function was to maintain order and serve as a tollbooth. The building lost its character with time. At the beginning of the 19th century it was disassembled and moved to the area of military barracks of the time, located at today’s Obrońcy Pokoju Street. It is preserved in good condition and in 1998, following comprehensive renovations, was returned to its former place.
The gate is ornamented with Rococo cartouches containing the emblems of Jelenia Góra, Silesia and Prussia and an occasional inscription.
The first bastel house here was built in the 15th century as one of the defensive elements of the Wojanowska Gate. In 1514 it was thoroughly rebuilt and started to be used in a double role as a bastel house and a chapel.
Unfortunately, the building did not survive the Thirty Years’ War - it burned down in a huge fire in 1634. Some 100 years later (1709-1715), it was rebuilt according to the design of an architect, Kasper Jentsch.
The modest fittings of the chapel: a Baroque altar painting of St. Anna with Mary, Baby Jesus, St. Joachim and Joseph, were also made in that period.
The original purpose of the building is evidenced by embrasures visible in the chapel walls. There is also a plaque commemorating the 840th anniversary of the city on the east wall, and below, a damaged reconciliation cross.
If we cross the Wojanowska Gate and advance further to 1 Maja Street, we may admire tenement houses with interesting and rich 19th and 20th century facades. Some tenement houses still hold the previously mentioned tram system fixtures (see ‘Jelenia Góra Trams’) in the shape of rosettes. After a few-minute march, we arrive at St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Church