The Collegiate Church of St. Florian (Template:Lang-pl) stands at the northern end of the Matejko Square and the former centre of the mediaeval city of Kleparz, now a district of Kraków.
The Church of St. Florian was built between 1185 and 1216. It was consumed by fire numerous times in the 12th, 16th and 17th centuries. Notably, during the Swedish siege of Kraków, General Stefan Czarniecki ordered that the city suburbs be burned down. The present appearance of the church is the result of a Baroque rebuilding that followed the Polish-Swedish wars. Since the 16th century the church has become the University Collegiate. The coronation route began there with the rector of the Senate of the university welcoming new kings. The church was also the starting point for the royal funeral processions to the Wawel Cathedral.
In 1667 the remains of Queen Ludwika Maria Gonzaga, wife of Jan II Kazimierz, were placed there temporarily, and in 1818 the remains of Tadeusz Kościuszko were put there to rest. From 17 September 1949 till September 1951 future pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyła, worked there as a vicar and in 1999 he renamed the church as the Lesser Basilica. He also visited the church on his pilgrimage to Poland on 18 September 2002.
- Legend has it, that in 1184 oxen carrying the remains of St. Florian, the patron saint of Poland, came to a halt at a place where the church stands now. The relics miraculously grew too heavy to be taken any further into the city and remained in Kleparz till it was decided for the church to be built at that exact spot. [1]
According to Wikitravel Kleparz was founded by Casimir the Great in 1366 as a town of its own, around St. Florian Church. It was also called Florencja or in Latin, Clepardia. [2]
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