Psaltery

Standing opposite the Church of Our Lady, this Late Gothic structure was built in 1518 on the initiative of Bishop Jan Lubrański, whose coat of arms can be seen to the right of the entrance. It was here that the 'college of psalters' - a 12-man choir that was part of the Lubrański Academy - would gather to sing each day. Unbelievably, in the 17th century psalms were sung on Ostrów Tumski 24 hours a day, with pupils from the Academy singing in pairs that changed every hour. Although the college of psalters existed until 1810, the building was converted into apartments for the clergy in the late 1700s, and was briefly used as an orphanage in the mid-1800s. Today it is closed to the public, but columns on the ground-floor bear markings recording the high-water marks from floods that frequently beset the island, the highest of which reads '1698.'