Jezuicka Street, Bydgoszcz

Jezuicka Street is a street located in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Many of its buildings are either registered on Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship heritage list, or part of Bydgoszcz local history.

Location
The street lies in the western part of the Old Town. It connects Długa street and Farna street, where stands Bydgoszcz cathedral, following along a north–south path. It is 150 m long.

History
Jezuicka street was laid out in the middle of the 14th century, when Bydgoszcz Old Town network was established. It ran in the western part of the city, connecting Długa Street and St. Martin and St. Nicholas Cathedral.

Rescue archaeological works have revealed the presence in the street of fragments of brick dating back to the 15th century. The house at Nr.4 still keeps preserved walls from this period, while foundations from the 17th century have been found at Nr.5.

The history of this part of the city is related to the Order of the Jesuits, which owned a majority of the dwellings located between today's Farna, Jezuicka, Niedźwiedzia streets and the Old Market Square. In 1619, the Society of Jesus erected a monastery here and around 1640, the construction of two Jesuit buildings on the Market Square closed one side of this quadrangle area: During the Swedish Invasions (1660), most of the buildings were burned down, and many others were emptied by their inhabitants before the plague. Properties were then managed by churches, monasteries and hospitals: they were then called tagged as Jesuit.
 * St Ignatius of Loyola Church (Kościół pojezuicki pw. św. Ignacego Loyoli);
 * Jesuit College (Kolegium Jezuitów w Bydgoszczy).

In autumn 1657, visiting monarques John II Casimir and his wife, together with Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, their dignitaries and courtiers, were housed in the Jesuit College and the Jesuit-owned houses nearby.

On the first detailed plan of Bromberg, drawn in 1774 by Prussian geometer Greth, a number of empty plots are visible in Jezuicka Street: only existing houses were located in the central and western part of the street and in the eastern frontage (today's City Hall). Many tenements were erected in the last quarter of the 18th century, as shown on Lindner's map in 1800 and a city map of 1816. It has been reported that between 1772 and 1786, 99 new 2-storey houses were built in Bydgoszcz. From the cadastral plan of 1876, it appears that there are 19 tenements at Jezuicka street, of which 13 located on the western frontage, which survived until today.

In the 1920s, the house numbering of the street was ordered back to the Polish system, while Polish and Jewish population, including several bakers and shoemakers, lived here. During the German occupation of Poland, the inhabitants of Jezuicka street were the first victims of the riots of the Old Town in the early days of Nazi occupation of Bydgoszcz.

After World War II and for several decades, the street kept the character acquired from the middle of the 19th century. In 1979, a renovation work started in the area, so as to order the old buildings of the Old Town, leading in the 1990s to the overhaul of most of the tenements at Jezuicka Street. Today they house bookshops, restaurants, shops, art galleries and in particular:
 * The Association of friends of Bydgoszcz City (Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy) at Nr.4 and 18;
 * The Bydgoszcz Scientific Society (Bydgoskie Towarzystwo Naukowe) at Nr.4;
 * City Hall offices at Nr.4a and 14.

In the 2010, street pavement has been renewed, as part of the Revitalization Plan of Bydgoszcz.

Naming
Through history, the street bore the following names:
 * 16th century to first half of the 18th century, – Platea ecclesiastica (Latin, Church street), since the alley led from Długa street to the cathedral;
 * 1800–1816, Pfarr Kirchenstraße (German, Parish Church Street);
 * 1840–1920, Neue Pfarrstraße (German, New Parish Street);
 * 1920–1939, Ulica Jezuicka (Jesuit street);
 * 1939–1945, Neue Pfarrstraße;
 * Since 1945, Ulica Jezuicka.

Current namesake refers to the Society of Jesus, which erected in the area a monastery (1619), a church (1638) and a college (1648). The place was the most important educational and cultural institution in the 17th century in Bydgoszcz.

Main places and buildings
Jesuicka Street is one of the most beautiful buildings in the Old Town of Bydgoszcz. The old tenements, despite multiple reconstructions, boast Polish Baroque architecture features. Most edifices, however, date back to the 19th century: 20th century series of renovations partially depleted facade architectural details. The oldest and most distinctive building on Jezuicka Street houses today the City Hall (Ratusz).

Bydgoszcz City Hall, at 1

Registered on Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage list, Nr.601359 Reg. A/783 (May 6, 1992)

1644–1653

Neoclassical architecture

The edifice was initially a Baroque architecture building housing the Jesuit College in Bydgoszcz. The institution was established by Bishop Kasper Działyński and Jerzy Ossoliński, Bydgoszcz Starostwo and Crown Chancellor. In the 17th century, there were apartments for Jesuits, a school with four to five classes, an alleyway adapted for school theater performances during school and church ceremonies, and a music hall for members of the school orchestra.

Main construction works were carried out from 1644 to 1653, under the direction of Jesuit builder Wojciech Przybyłkowicz. An expansion of the college was performed in 1696, thanks to funds donation made by Jan Stefan Komorowski, Malbork Regent, brother of Wojciech, then rector of Bydgoszcz Jesuit College (1689). Further constructions were carried out in the college between 1697 and 1709 under the direction of Wojciech Głaznowicz, the last major reconstruction happening in 1726–1740. Jesuit college and St Ignatius of Loyola Church composed one of the most magnificent ensemble in Bydgoszcz. It struck less by the level of decoration than the quality of its various important guests: John II Casimir and his wife, together with Frederick William and his spouse in 1657, officers and generals of the Swedish and Russian armies during armed conflicts in the 17th and 18th centuries.

After the Suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the building was used as a Prussian Gymnasium. In the time of the Duchy of Warsaw, there was a Department of Primary School (1808–1812) and later a faculty (1812–1815) faculty. At that time, the school received the visit, among others, of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Tadeusz Czacki; Stefan Florian Garczyński Polish poet and friend of Adam Mickiewicz studied there.

After the Third Partition of Poland (1795), a Prussian royal gymnasium was set up in the building (1871). In 1879, the ensemble was purchased by the municipality and became the seat of the city hall. To fit its need, municipal authorities ordered a reconstruction in 1878, supervised by building counselor Wilhelm Lincke, and helped by chief mason Albert Rose and chief carpenter Heinrich Mautz (who designed in 1845 Buchholz's tannery). Works remodeled the facade and adapted interiors layout to the needs of office activities. The opening ceremony took place on December 19, 1879.

As a result of the reconstructions made in 1697, 1702, and during the 19th century, the edifice has gradually lost its original Baroque architecture to display Neoclassical features. The two-storey construction is a brick, plastered edifice with basement. Some rooms are barrel vaulted. The Town Hall is the only preserved fragment of the former Jesuit complex. The monastery and the church have been demolished in 1940. From 1994 to 1996, a general refurbishment of the facility was carried out, including a modernization and expansion of the eastern wing. On April 19, 2017, a new town hall clock has been unveiled on the facade.

On the walls of the building are placed several plaques commemorating:
 * On the northern side, the 600th anniversary of Bydgoszcz (1946);
 * On the eastern side, the anniversary of the liberation of the city from German occupation (1950).