User:Henryk Tannhäuser/sandbox



Cathedral House (Dom katedralny) is a Gothic building on the Wawel Hill, Krakow. During it's long history, it has also been knownas the House of the Rorantists and Mansionaries(Dom Rorantystów i Mansjonarzy); this title related to its use a dwelling for members of the clergy attached to the adjacent Wawel Cathedral. Today, the building is home to the John Paul II Wawel Cathedral Museum.

History
The house was originally a complex of two medieval houses located between the Wawel's Vasa Gate and the Building of the Former Clerical Seminary; to the North, it adjoins the Wawel's fortified walls.

Historically, the house was known as the Royal House (eastern building) and the House of the Mansionaries (western building). The Royal House was founded by the King Kazimierz III the Great. However, from 1381, it was used as a granary, and during the first half of the 16th century, part of the house contained apartments for the  Rorantists (Rorantyści, Wawel Cathedral male vocal group).

The western building was built at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1754 it was renovated at the expense of Bishop Konstanty Felicjan Szaniawski under the supervision of the architect Kacper Bażanka. After that, it served as the seat of the Mansionaries Collegium (MAnsjonarze, a collegeof cathedral clergy founded in 1381-1382 by Zawisza Kurozwęcki.

The buildings were amalgamted and renovated between 1905 and 1905 according to plans drawn by Sławomir Odrzywolski and Zygmunt Hendel. Currently two floors of the buildings are occupied by The John Paul II Wawel Cathedral Museum, while the remainder serves as appartments for clergy attached to the cathedral.

Architecture
The five-floored building's fabric is of red brick, with limestone architraves to the windows; the overall design is in an austere the Gothic style relieved by Crow-stepped gables. The canted front façade overlooks a terrace with a wall built circa 1904-1905. This wall contains fragments of architectural details from the 15th and 16th centuries which originate from the cathedral.