Plock Cathedral

Mother of the churches of Mazovia - the largest Piast necropolis of the Polish rulers

The project „Digitization and virtualization of the Piast Cathedral in Plock, the heart of the Tumskie Hill – Historical Monument” received funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of „the Digital Culture 2020”grant programme.

Divided into a dozen tasks, the project aimed to faithfully reproduce the architecture of the Monument of History – the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Plock – and the movable artefacts (paintings, sculpture, arts and crafts, blacksmithing, etc.) within it, through two- and three-dimensional digitisation.

The Cathedral Basilica is one of the oldest and largest in the country, being at the same time the largest Renaissance cathedral north of the Alps, on which other churches in Poland were modelled. Inside it you will find a copy of the bronze Plock Doors, a unique example of Romanesque art in this part of Europe. The polychrome with the coats of arms of all the bishops of Plock is a delight in its beauty. Under the northern tower, in the Royal Chapel, the rulers of Poland are buried in a classicist sarcophagus: Ladislaus I Herman and Boleslaus III the Wrymouth, and in the crypt Konrad Mazowiecki and other princes.  It is the largest necropolis of the rulers of Poland. The unique works of artistic craftsmanship gathered in the treasury complete the picture of a true pearl in the crown of Polish historical monuments.

The scope of work covered the entire church and the precious works of art inside. During the implementation of the task, the latest measurement and visualisation technologies were used, as well as web technologies (a multilingual, responsive website), ensuring interactivity for all types of audience, with particular emphasis on the excluded (WCAG 2.1 standard). The main objective of the project was to develop and digitise cultural heritage resources and to make digital resources accessible and re-usable.