Walk in Warsaw: Old Town
Jesuit Church, Warsaw / Shutterstock
Jesuit Church
Situated right next to St John's Cathedral, this is the tallest building in the Old Town. The church was dedicated in 1609 and consecrated in 1926 and was inspired by Father Piotr Skarga and was almost totally financed by King Zygmunt III Waza. The history of the building begins in the 17th century when the Jesuit Order received a small street running around the back of St John's Cathedral. The order also bought a building standing on the other side of the street and tore it down in order to build the new church. Originally it was called the Church of the Birth of the Holy Virgin Mary and Saint Ignacy. It's now the parish of Our Lady of Grace. The church was plundered by the Swedish Army during the Swedish Deluge and underwent thorough renovations in the 18th century. When the Jesuit order was annulled in 1773 the church changed owners several times and even became a warehouse for church equipment and statues from other churches. It was returned to the Jesuits in the 1920s. The rebuilding of the church after its destruction in the Warsaw Uprising took 10 years. Today, as opposed to St John's Cathedral next-door, it looks as it did before the war.