Dzieje i architektura pomennonickiego kościoła w Gdańsku

The rules of Mennonites, a faction of Anabaptists, were established by a former Catholic priest, Menno Simons (1496-1561). At first, the movement expanded in the region of Friesland and Netherlands. Due to the escalated persecution, Mennonites were forced to migrate. First groups that settled in Gdańsk arrived in the middle of the 16th century. In 1800 Mennonites were allowed to be granted civic rights in Gdańsk and, therefore, could construct their own house of prayer inside the city's fortifications. The church was built at the foot of Biskupia Górka in 1818-1819 by Bretschneider and Fuchs, who were respectively a masonry master and a carpenter. The structural principles, which were adopted by the constructors, made it the only classical sacred building in Gdańsk. Its uniqueness was also determined by its distinctive structure. In the course of time, House of Prayer's neighbours were to be¬come a so-called Preacher's House, a stylistically different building which was constructed in 1883-1884, and a poorhouse, which was built eighteen years later. Owing to their presence, it is the only complete complex of buildings preserved in Poland that served the Mennonites in the past. Apart from the history and architecture of the House of Prayer in Gdańsk, the article out¬lines the context of Mennonites' architecture and the influence of Gdańsk's church on the structure of Mennonites' house of prayers erected in the area of today's Russia and Ukraine.