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	Jas and Malgosia - Gate joining the tenement houses
	Dwarf at the back of Jas
	Jas i Malgosia - at the front

Details
Name: Tenement houses "Jas i Malgosia"
Date of erection: 14th century
Location: Close to the Market Square the corner of św. Mikołaja and Odrzańska streets

Information

How the name "Jas" and "Malgosia" originated?
The name originated shortly after Word War II and was motivated by the characteristic appearance of both tenement houses. This playful name was invented by the citizens, to whom the buildings appeared as two figures holding by their hands. Today, everyone in Wroclaw knows where "Jas" and "Malgosia" are located. They are an attractive tourist and historical element of Wroclaw. They serve us all thanks to their availability and good location
The description will start from the gate joining these charming buildings. From the original gates, which lead to the nearby church graveyard, remained only the south-east one. It was erected probably in the 15th century and was the size similar to the current one. It remained in that shape till the 18th century when it was rebuilt (1728) in Gothic style by Christopher Hackner.

The gate opening was changed in shape and captured in stone imposts and an archivolt with a keystone decorated with a sculpture presenting a putto’s head. The whole was enclosed in a pair of Tuscan pilasters standing on a pedestal. It was topped with a bent baroque cornice with a cartouche supported by two puttos and flanked, stone pots on both sides.
The inscription on the cartouche saying “Mors Ianua Vitae” (Death is the Gate of Life) indicates its graveyard character. Once, the gate was closed with a door, but its remains did not survive.

Tenement house "Jas" ( św. Mikołaja 1 Street)
The tenement house ‘Jas’ is comprised of two older houses : No. 1 - three-windowed and No. 2 - one-windowed but slightly higher. Both form a unified whole and are the remaining part of the south frontage of the altar priests’ house complex. Probably, the construction of this tenement house was based on the graveyard wall’s support in the 15th century. The present three-storey height of ‘Jas’ and its gable roof are the result of an unknown reconstruction of the building that probably took place at the end of the 16th century. Smooth elevations are varied with small windows in straight stone frames. Their beveled edges are captured on both sides in straight gable ends topped with a recessed brick cornice.

Originally, the interior was comprised of three rooms with stairs in the middle one, and in the middle of the 19th century it was extended by adding a room of the aforementioned house. Between 1959 and 1960 the building was renovated and adopted for the function of TMW’s office (Wroclaw Public Trams) (project and supervision by architect Emil Kaliski).

Information continued

Tenement house "Malgosia" (Odrzańska 40 Street)
"Malgosia" was built in the 15th century. It was the first building in the row of identical one-and-a-half-storey constructions erected along the southern part of the graveyard. The thorough reconstruction in 1564 (indicated by the date, which remained on the renaissance window grate, and the style-oriented analysis of many preserved details) totally changed the appearance of the building. Then, it received the second storey and the gabled roofing with three gables on the side of Odrzańska Street. The south elevation was topped with a high gable with a mannerist characteristics decorated with stone pinnacles. From this period came the stone window frames of the ground floor and two higher floors and the valuable grate in the ground floor window. The latter is decorated with the emblem presenting two crossed keys and a hammer and the date with the following initials: D 1564 H. The mannerist main portal with a door fitted with metal sheets with a pressed motif of crowned Silesian Eagles indicates that it was crafted earlier - at the beginning of the 16th century.
During the aforementioned reconstruction, in the corner on the side of the Market Square, a granite capital of a Roman column was fixed. It came from the Olbin abbey that was destroyed in 1526 (currently in the Museum of Architecture). Inside the tenement house many details of renaissance architectural reconstruction were preserved, mainly in the part on the side of the Market Square. On the ground floor remained the wooden ceiling with straight beveled beams decorated with black and white plant-shaped ornaments. The fragment comprised of four authentic beams was supplemented with raw timber during the reconstruction. The ceilings of the south rooms on the first and second floors remained unchanged. After 1740, the last baroque reconstruction took place. Its results can be admired today; the building got the third floor, the elevation was enriched and decorated with baroque molding. The west elevation was enriched with a baroque stone portal. Between 1972 - 1975, the tenement house was restored in accordance with Emil Kaliski’s design and supervision. The building was handed over to TMW (Wroclaw Public Trams). During the restoration works many renaissance elements and ornaments were discovered.

Information from: wroclaw.hydral.com.pl

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