Rozwój przestrzenny wczesnośredniowiecznego Gdańska w świetle źródeł archeologicznych

Abstract

Gdańsk is situated on Gdańsk Bay at the mouth of the Motława River at the confluence with the Vistula River, about 4.5 km from the Baltic Sea coast. Gdańsk Bay is protected from the open sea by the Hel Peninsula that stretches over 30 km, creating ideal conditions for operating a seaport. The oldest traces of early medieval settlement were recorded in the area of Długi Targ Street under the town hall of the main town. Dendrochronological analyses proved that the oldest wooden structures in this region can be dated to the 930s. In the 1060s, at the confluence of the Motława and the Vistula Rivers a stronghold was built, which was also the seat of the local duke. This stronghold, with a surface area of 2.25 hectares, was surrounded by earthen and wooden ramparts, about 14 meters wide at the base. The results of recent studies indicate that the collapse of this edifice should be dated to the turn of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th century. Within the Old Town, in the areas of the streets of Podwale Staromiejskie, Oborniki Olejarna, Igielnicka and Tartaczna, compact built-up zones appeared about the mid-12th century. At that time numerous dwellings and craft workshops; mainly shoemaker, tanning and bone and antler production ones were erected. These were built using the log construction, post-and-plank construction methods and, less frequently, the wattle construction one. In the vicinity of the Wielki Młyn (the Great Mill), on the mill islet called Schild, three levels of wooden streets and the remains of houses dated to the years 1230–1301, while under this edifice traces of settlement from the 11th and the 13th centuries were recorded. Settlement from the 12th and the 13th centuries was also discovered in the area of Rajska Street and Heweliusza Street. Near St Nicholas’ church, at the large square, probably of a market place nature, settlements from the 10th century were recorded. Under the building of the Market Hall, the site of a former Dominican monastery, a settlement from the 10th century, a cemetery dated from the second half of the 10th century and the remains of two Romanesque churches were discovered. The older of the churches, 34.5 m long, with a semicircular apse, was built in the 1190s, while the younger one, 40 m long, with a rectangular choir was erected on the older remains in the 1220s. In the second half of the 13th century, the construction of the monastery began, the remains of which survivedunder the present Plac Dominikański (Dominican Square). There was one chamber with a quadripartite vault supported by a central pillar. This was renovated and currently ithouses a subterranean exhibition. In the Main Town, apart from a small settlement in the area of Długi Targ Street, more intense traces of an early medieval settlement were not recorded. In this system, the location of Lübeck town, founded about 1260, should be suspected in the areas of the Old Town.