About the school that was a hospital

Some might wonder: wasn't the Greek Catholic cathedral church supposed to be built here? Isn't the Bells and Pipes Museum located in the belfry built for this church that never came to be? Yes and no. The Bells and Pipes Museum is actually located in the adapted belfry, which was built in 1777 next to the existing cathedral church at that time. It was still a church from the 15th century and was located more or less where the playing field of Primary School No. 11 is now. Unfortunately, it was a building in ruins and was demolished in 1780. Since the policy of the occupier - to put it mildly - was rather towards reducing the number of churches, the consent for the construction of a new church was withdrawn and the church and monastery of the Carmelites were transferred to the needs of the Greek Catholic community.

It is interesting, however, that in Władycz, next to the old cathedral church, there was a parish school, a building for the clergy, but most importantly - there was a hospital, which was called "Russian". This was still the period before anyone thought about building a Fortress, which is why the invader did not invest in the city - and in fact in the entire area - trying to place all institutions in existing buildings. Therefore, in 1861, this hospital was renamed a public hospital, after the earlier merger or liquidation of the Polish hospital and the hospital of the Brothers of Mercy convent operating in the city.

Health facility model

According to the assessment of those at the time, the conditions in that institution were terrible. In 1873, a decision was made to build a new facility, and the old hospital was probably demolished. In 1877, at the behest of the city mayor Walery Waygart, a new building with 160 beds was erected, which was initially considered and described as a model for health facilities. It employed 4 caretakers, 3 caretakers, a janitor and a cook, remained under the supervision of the Home Department and the management of the City Council, which meant that it was partly financed from city funds and partly from the national funds. In 1881, 1,295 patients were hospitalized there, of whom 74 died and 944 left the institution completely cured. The average hospitalization time was 20 days.

It should be clearly stated here that the building of the Dominican monastery on Grodzka Street (today the Przemyśl Public Library) was used for the needs of the army stationed in Przemyśl, while the one on Władycz was intended strictly for the needs of the residents, excluding the Israelites, who had their own hospital near Rakoczego Street, currently Pelczara Street, since 1842. Over the next 40 years, the number of residents increased so much that it was decided to build a new, larger hospital complex in Zasań, on Buszkowicka Street, today Rogozińskiego Street. Also, the military hospital on Grodzka Street was no longer sufficient for the needs of the growing Fortress crew, which resulted in the construction of a complex of buildings on Słowackiego Street in the second half of the 1880s.

One of the reasons for the liquidation of the hospital in Władycz was probably the increase in knowledge about infectious diseases and the accusation that the rooms for these patients were placed right next to the kitchens. In any case, the vacated building became a Public School and has retained its educational function to this day - it still exists as Primary School No. 11.

Dr. Natalia Stojak-Pomykacz