page_title: Renaissance architecture
section_title: Poland
hierarchical_section_title: Renaissance architecture / Spread in Europe / Poland
caption_attribution_description: English: Courtyard of Wawel Castle, Kraków, Poland. Polski: Dziedziniec zamku na Wawelu.
context_page_description: Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 14th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture. Developed first in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators, the Renaissance style quickly spread to other Italian cities. The style was carried to France, Spain, Germany, England, Russia and other parts of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact.
  Renaissance style places emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts, as they are demonstrated in the architecture of classical antiquity and in particular ancient Roman architecture, of which many examples remained. Orderly arrangements of columns, pilasters and lintels, as well as the use of semicircular arches, hemispherical domes, niches and aediculae replaced the more complex proportional systems and irregular profiles of medieval buildings.
context_section_description: Polish Renaissance architecture is divided into three periods:
  The first period (1500–50) is the so-called "Italian" as most of Renaissance buildings of this time were designed by Italian architects, mainly from Florence, including Francesco Fiorentino and Bartolomeo Berrecci. Renowned architects from Southern Europe became sought-after during the reign of Sigismund I the Old and his Italian-born wife, Queen Bona Sforza. Notable examples from this period include Wawel Castle Courtyard and Sigismund's Chapel.
  In the second period (1550–1600), Renaissance architecture became more common, with the beginnings of Mannerist and under the influence of the Netherlands, particularly in northern Poland and Pomerania, but also in parts of Lesser Poland. Buildings of this kind include the Cloth Hall in Kraków and city halls of Tarnów and Sandomierz. The most famous example is the 16th-century Poznań Town Hall, designed by Giovanni Battista di Quadro.
  In the third period (1600–50), the rising power of sponsored Jesuits and Counter Reformation gave impetus to the development of Mannerist architecture and Baroque.
caption: Courtyard of Wawel Castle exemplifies first period of Polish Renaissance
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