The Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
church located at the Shrine of
Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland, in the village of
Licheń Stary near
Konin
Konin (german: Kunau) is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Prior to 1999, it was the capital of the Konin Voivodeship (1975–1998). In 2021 the p ...
in the
Greater Poland Voivodeship
Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 ...
in Poland. It was designed by
Barbara Bielecka
Barbara Bielecka (born 1 January 1931, Chełm) is a Polish Functionalist architect and a member of the Faculty of Architecture at the Gdańsk University of Technology. She designed the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lichen
A sanctuary, in its origi ...
and built between 1994 and 2004.
The construction was funded by pilgrims' donations. With a tower measuring 141.5 meters in height, it is one of the tallest and largest churches in the world.
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History
The history of the foundation of the church dates back to 1813, when Tomasz Kłossowski, a Polish soldier fighting under
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
near
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, was seriously wounded. He invoked the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, begging her not to let him die in a foreign land. According to legend, she appeared to him wearing a golden crown, a dark red gown, with a golden mantle, and holding a white eagle in her right hand. She comforted the soldier and promised he would recover and return to Poland. Tomasz was instructed to have an image of her made, and to place the image in a public place so that "My people will pray before this image and shall draw many graces at My hands in the hardest times of trial."
With the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...
120 meters long and 77 meters wide, with a central dome 98 meters (321 feet) high, and with a tower 141.5 metres (464 feet) tall, it is Poland's largest church and one of the
largest church buildings in the world. Also, it has one of
the tallest domes in the world. The church is dedicated to ''
Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland'', whose icon, perhaps dating back to the 18th century, is displayed on the basilica's main altar. It is one of Poland's principal pilgrimage sites.
Between 2002 and 2007, Polish organbuilder Zych - on the base of the project made by Prof. Andrzej Chorosiński - built a 157-stop pipe organ (6 manuals and pedalboard). It is the largest organ in Poland, 4th in Europe and 13th around the world.
Pope
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
blessed the Basilica in 1999.
Vaticanwebsite: John Paul II at Lichen
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In 2007, parts of the Polish museum in Fawley Court
Fawley Court is a country house, with large mixed-use grounds standing on the west bank of the River Thames at Fawley in the English county of Buckinghamshire. Its former deer park extended east into the Henley Park area of Henley-on-Thames, Ox ...
were translocated to the shrine by the Marian Fathers
The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary ( la, Congregatio Clericorum Marianorum ab Immaculata Conceptionis Beatissimae Virginis Mariae) is a Catholic male clerical religious congregation fou ...
.
Gallery
File:Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Licheń, Stary Licheń, Polonia, 2016-12-21, DD 36-38 HDR.jpg, General view
File:Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Licheń, Stary Licheń, Polonia, 2016-12-21, DD 54-56 HDR.jpg, South facade of the main building
File:Stary Lichen2.jpg, Eastern side view of the Basilica, overlooking the piazza
File:Licheń - bazylika 15.JPG, A view of the main altar with the holy icon of ''Our Lady of Licheń
Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland, Our Lady of Licheń, or Virgin of Licheń is a Roman Catholic icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by its Polish faithful dating from 1772 and is permanently enshrined within the Sanctuary of Our Lady o ...
''
File:Licheń - bazylika 11.JPG, An interior view of the Basilica's eastern side wing
File:Licheń - bazylika 10.JPG, Altar with a large crucifix
A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (La ...
in the western side wing
File:Licheń - bazylika 09.JPG, The copula seen from the interior of the Basilica
File:Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Licheń, Stary Licheń, Polonia, 2016-12-21, DD 51-53 HDR.jpg, has 141.5 m and two viewing platforms
See also
*Roman Catholic Marian churches
Catholic Marian churches are religious buildings dedicated to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These churches were built throughout the history of the Catholic Church, and today they can be found on every continent including Antarctica. ...
*List of tallest domes
This is a list of the tallest domes in the world. The dome can be measured by various criteria. There are different types of domes. Many of the tallest domes have a Roof lantern, lantern. Strictly speaking, the lantern is not part of the dome, b ...
*List of tallest churches
This list of tallest church buildings ranks church buildings by height. From the Middle Ages until the advent of the skyscraper, Christian church buildings were often the world's tallest buildings. From 1311, when the spire of Lincoln Cathedr ...
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica of Our Lady of Lichen
The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland
Basilica churches in Poland
Shrines to the Virgin Mary
Roman Catholic churches completed in 2004
Konin County
Licheń
Church buildings with domes
21st-century Roman Catholic church buildings