Excavations at Medieval hospital

Archaeologists excavating the site of a Medieval hospital by the New Town Square in Toruń, northern Poland, reveal information about the period in which the establishment functioned.

Excavations in the cellars of the hospital (by Tytus Żmijewski)

The hospital preserved to this day as a simple building at the Szpitalna (Hospital) street, next to the Church of St Jacob. It was one of two such establishments existing in the Medieval times at the New Town in Toruń. The excavations at the site is being carried out since 2014, when the team of archaeologists investigated the eastern site of the building and uncovered outside a well dating to the 19th century and remains of an outer building. Archaeologists believe that the hospital was one the buildings of a complex by the St Jacob’s church that consisted also of a school and vicar’s house.

Structures unearthed by archaeologists (by Tytus Żmijewski)

At the site archaeologists also unearthed a monastic ring with a monogram of Christ, which must have belonged to a priest. This confirms that Benedictine and Cistercian nuns were present at the site. Other artefacts consist of candle wick cutters, numerous pottery vessels such as pots, jars, bowls, and also pieces of clothes, leg of a drinking glass, and bottles, including ones used to store mineral water produces in 19th century near Bydgoszcz.

(after Nauka w Polsce & Tytus Żmijewski)

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