Three three-apse transept-less basilicas in early Piast Poland. Searching for the source of the inspiration

When deciding on an architectural design for his project, the founder of a church could refer to quite a repertoire of models developed within Christianity over the centuries. Among them were more prestigious models and ones that enjoyed less recognition; those dating back to antiquity and those that developed quite recently. In the 2nd half of the 11th century, Casimir the Restorer and his son Bolesław founded the cathedral in Gniezno, and two Benedictine basilicas in Lubiń and Tyniec. They were built based on a plan of a transept-less three apse basilica. The builders of the Piast churches drew artistic models directly from the imperial architecture of the Rhineland, Lorraine and Saxony. The Benedictine monastic community played an important role in this process. Polish churches of that time are filled with quotations from their architecture. By combining an analysis of written sources with historical and artistic retrospection of the occurrence of this architectural model in Europe, the author attempts to determine where this type of architectural concept could have reached the Piast court around the mid-11th century and who could have been the intermediary in its transfer to Poland.