St. Anne's Church () is a Roman Catholic church in the historic center of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, adjacent to the

Castle Square Castle Square may refer to: *Castle Square, Sheffield, England *Castle Square, Warsaw Castle Square (, ) is a historic square in front of the Royal Castle – the former official residence of Polish monarchs – located in Warsaw, Poland. It ...

, at '' Krakowskie Przedmieście 68''. It is one of Poland's most notable churches with a Neoclassical facade. The church ranks among

's oldest buildings. Over time, it has seen many reconstructions, resulting in its present-day appearance, unchanged since 1788. Currently it is the main church parish of the academic community in Warsaw.

History

In 1454 Duchess of

Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

Anna FiodorownaJ. Tęgowski, Anna i Barbara – księżne mazowieckie z XV wieku. Przyczynek do genealogii Piastów mazowieckich, in: J. Śliwiński (red.), Społeczeństwo i polityka do XVII wieku, Olsztyn 1994 (in some old books mistakenly called Holszanska), coming from a Ruthenized Lithuanian princely house, founded this church with a cloister for the

Bernardine Bernardine is a Latinate diminutive of the given name "Bernard". It can be applied to men, notably Saint Bernadine, but is now much more often a female name. Bernadine and Bernadene are variant spellings of the female name. The nickname '' B ...

friars (''Order of Friars Minor''). The square in front of the church was a place of solemn homages to Polish monarchs by the rulers of Prussia (the first one in 1578, the last one in 1621). In 1582 a slender tower was added to the church. Some time later it was encompassed with a

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

and incorporated into the city

fortifications A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

. The St. Anne's Church was reconstructed several times in 1603, 1634, 1636 and in 1667 (it was heavily damaged during the siege of Warsaw and plundered by Swedish and German troops in the 1650s). Between 1740 and 1760 the façade was reconstructed in

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style according to

Jakub Fontana Jakub Fontana (1710 – 13 April 1773) was a Polish architect of Swiss Italian origin, a practitioner of the Baroque and Neoclassical styles. He was court architect to the Polish king. He was knighted in 1764. Jakub Fontana had a notable brother n ...

's design and decorated with two filigree belfries. The walls and semicircular vault ceilings of the church, divided into bays, were decorated at that time with profuse paintings in perspective, using illusionary techniques and depicting scenes in the life of

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

. A chapel of Saint Ładysław was also decorated in this fashion. All paintings were by Friar Walenty Żebrowski. The church was reconstructed for the last time between 1786 and 1788 by order of King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

. During the Warsaw Uprising of 1794, part of the national

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

in 1794, Bishop Józef Kossakowski, considered the traitor of the nation, was executed in front of the church (hanged with a great applause by

inhabitants). The roof of the church was heavily damaged in the air raid on Warsaw in 1939 and then destroyed by fire in 1944 during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

but soon repaired. In 1949 the walls were undermined by the excavation for the WZ route and had to be quickly reinforced. Restoration of all elements was undertaken from the 1940s-70s, supervised by architect .

Façade and interior

The present façade was built in 1788 in a Neoclassical style typical of the reign of King

, by

Chrystian Piotr Aigner Chrystian Piotr Aigner (1756 in Puławy, Poland – 9 February 1841 in Florence, Italy) was a Polish architect and theoretician of architecture. Life Chrystian Piotr Aigner acquired extensive knowledge of architecture in the course of several jo ...

. Sculptors of that time were Jakub Monaldi and Franciszek Pinck, who carved statues of the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

which decorate the façade. The interior of the church is now in high-baroque style with several chapels. The church makes an overwhelming impression on the visitor with its surprisingly rich interior filled with frescoes. The only example of a

diamond vault A diamond vault is a form of vault church architecture used in the Late Gothic and Renaissance style, which is based on an elaborate system of cavernous vaults in a manner resembling diamonds. It was widely used especially in Central European c ...

preserved in Warsaw can be seen in the cloister leading to the vestry.

Notes

::In-line:

Gallery

Historical images

Image:POL JS Mock Wjazd Augusta III do Warszawy.jpg, ''St. Anne's Church (right) in 1734'' Image:Canaletto Kościół św. Anny.JPG, ''The church by

Bernardo Bellotto Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italians, Italian urban Landscape art, landscape Painting, painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his Veduta, ''vedute'' of European cities – Dr ...

, 1770s'' Image:Warsaw_about_1900.jpg, ''St. Anne's about 1900''

Interior

Image:Wnętrze kościoła św. Anny w Warszawie 2015.jpg, ''General view'' Image:6 Warszawa 128.jpg, ''Main altar'' Image:Sklepienie kryształowe kościół św. Anny w Warszawie.JPG, ''Gothic diamond vaults in the cloister''

Exterior

Image:4 Warszawa 39.jpg, ''The St. Anne's bell tower'' Image:Warszawa - kościół św. Anny i kolumna Zygmunta III Wazy.jpg, ''The church as seen from the

'' Image:St. Anne's Church in Warsaw with colonnade.jpg, ''St. Anne's Church in Warsaw with colonnade''

External links

St. Anna's Church
*
www.warszawa1939.pl
*
St. Anne's Church in 1795
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Annes Church, Warsaw Roman Catholic churches completed in 1788 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland Roman Catholic churches in Warsaw Neoclassical architecture in Warsaw 1788 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Neoclassical church buildings in Poland