Z BADAŃ NAD WIĘŹBAMI DACHOWYMI W KOŚCIOŁACH KAMEDUŁÓW PUSTELNIKÓW

603

From the Research into the Roof Structures
of the Camaldolese Hermits Churches
at Rytwiany and Monte Rua

In the paper commemorating Ryszard Brykowski my
intention is to refer to the 1959 research we both
conducted at Rytwiany, while focusing on the topic
of wooden roof structures, so close to his heart, and
resorting to the examples to be found in the churches
of the congregation of the Camaldolese Hermits of
Monte Corona (1524).
The layout and the architecture of the Złoty Las
(Golden Forest) Hermitage at Rytwiany became
a topic of particular interest in research centres in
Warszawa and in Kraków as of the 1950s.The
summing up of the historical research and the results
of the new discoveries was organized at the 2017
Academic Conference: 'The Cameldolese at Ryt-
wiany. 400 Years of the Złoty Las Hermitage'. The
first paper based on sources and dealing with the
history of the layout and architecture of the Her-
mitage of Monte Rua (near Padua) was published in
1993, and the academic monograph, which was a
support for further studies, appeared in 2011
(Matthias Mulitzer).
The Hermitage of Monte Rua was set amidst the
forest in 1573, featuring the Church of the
Annunciation of Our Lady (1543-49) at the peak of
the hill. The church's programme, layout, and the
'basilica-type' block, may have served as the model
for the Order's rule (1610), and may have affected
the architecture of other Camaldolese churches. The
church's body was covered with a low gable roof,
with the slope adjusted to the inclination of the
tympanum, while the chapels, chapter, and the
sacristy to its sides were covered with a mono-
pitched roof. The roof structure was adjusted to the
roof slopes and walls' spread.
Raised as of 1617, the Hermitage at Rytwiany
was founded by the Tęczyński brothers educated in
e.g. Padua: Gabriel, Lublin Voivode, and Jan Mag-
nus, Kraków Voivode. The Church of the Annun-
ciation of Our Lady (1624-37) was built in the centre
and on the foundation axis possibly after a design
imported from Italy, this testified to not only by the
adjustment to the Order's regulations, but also by a
striking similarity to the plan of the Monte Tizziano
church (1619, designed by P. Alessandro Secchi). In
1624, P. Hiacenty Tudertinus began to erect the
Hermitage; the construction process at Rytwiany
was subsequently continued by the Priors: P. Jan
Sylvano Boselli of Bergamo and P. Wenanty of

Subiaco (painter, author of frescoes and paintings).
Nonetheless, the Rytwiany church differs from the
Italian ones in a high-roofed mass and a two-
storeyed gable 'in harmony with the Polish sky and
custom'.
The dating of the church's gable and mass is
confirmed by the painting by P. Wenanty featuring
the Hermitage model (1627; Fig. 1). It is relevant at
this point to recall that in Poland in the first half of
the 17th century a construction process was con-
ducted traditionally: after the layout had been
marked out, walls were raised, following which local
carpenters would make the roof structure; following
this, the roof surface inclined at ca 50° was shingled,
and only then was the vault made, and eventually the
tower and the gables were raised (Fig.2-3).
At Rytwiany, the original king post structure has
been preserved above the nave/chancel (Fig. 4-5).
Its trusses are made of tie-beams supported on wall
plates, and connected by means of struts and braces
with the king post as well as the rafters. The king
posts are located in every truss. In the transverse
plane, the king post trusses were suspended with a
couple of braces on the rafters and set in collar beams,
whereas on the longitudinal axis, the braces
diagonally connected the frame made up of the king
post ground beam and rails (Fig. 6). All the elements
were connected with dovetail joints and strengthened
with pegs.
No carpenter's assembly marks have been found,
yet investigation and the preserved mass of the
Rytwiany church confirm the genuine structure. As
for the gables, they were raised in two stages: the
western one (before 1637) and the eastern one
(following a fire, 1741).
King post structures were used on the Polish
territory in the 14th-15th century up to the late 18th
century, also in the closest vicinity of Rytwian, e.g.
in the Zborówek wooden church (1459; Fig. 7), and
in the Gothic church in Szydłów (the roof structure
rebuilt after 1630; Fig.8), and also in many modern
churches, e.g. in Szydłowiec, Klimontów, Opatów,
Pińczów, and Raków.
The roofs of the Monte Rua church were gradually
altered: in the 17th century, the nave body was covered
with a gable roof, while the sides with mono-pitched
roofs. (Fig.9). Meanwhile, in the 18th century, a single
gable roof covered both the church's body and the