Niepokalanów monastery (so called ''City of the Immaculate Mother of God'') is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

religious community situated in Teresin (near the

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 ...

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into ...

railway line, about 42 km to the west from the capital of

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 ...

). It was founded in autumn 1927 by Friar Minor Conventual –

Maximilian Kolbe Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; ; 8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest, Conventual Franciscan friar, missionary, saint, martyr, and a Nazi concentration camp victim, who volunteered to die in place ...

, who was later canonized as a saint-martyr of the Catholic Church. Niep-basil 2025fc 1080p

Beginnings of the monastery

In summer 1927 duke Jan Drucki-Lubecki, the owner of a large estate located in Teresin village, offered fr. Maximilian Kolbe a convenient ground near Warsaw for building a new monastery, later called Niepokalanów. In autumn of the same year the first three wooden barracks (including the first

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

) were built and a

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

of the new monastery took place on 7 December 1927. The facility served as a home for the first group of conventual friars, a

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

and a minor seminary. In 1930 father Kolbe founded a similar community in

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

(Japan), called ''Mugenzai no Sono'' (無原罪の園: ''Garden of the Immaculate''). Quick growth of the Niepokalanów required more and more space. The donator, duke Jan Drucki-Lubecki, allowed the friars to use as much field as necessary, so the area of the monastery reached 28 ha. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, it was the largest

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in the world, housing as many as 760 men. In December 1938, one million copies of ''The Knight of the Immaculate'' (in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Rycerz Niepokalanej'') were printed. Of these, 800,000 were distributed through monthly subscriptions, while 200,000 were allocated for promotional purposes. The whole publishing house used about 1600 tonnes of paper annually for about 60 million copies of papers. Since July 1931, a

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respo ...

composed of monks has been operating in the monastery. This department, equipped with some basic tools such as hand pumps, a homemade water tanker, ladders and hooks, was responsible for ensuring fire safety for the monastery's wooden residential and publishing buildings, as well as paper storage areas. In the case of a fire, they also promptly assisted local residents. In 1940, the Franciscan firefighters refurbished a Minerva car, adapting it for firefighting purposes, and used it for the following several years. Alongside the publishing activities, which were the main task of Niepokalanów, the Franciscans also developed pastoral care at a wooden chapel built in 1927. Due to considerable distance from the parish church in Pawłowice, a possibility of participating in services or receiving confession at the Franciscans' chapel provided great convenience for the local population. Although the parish center was not established until June 1950, already in November 1927, archbishop

Aleksander Kakowski Aleksander Kakowski (; 5 February 1862 – 30 December 1938) was a Polish politician, diplomat, a member of the Regency Council and, as Cardinal and Archbishop of Warsaw, the last titular Primate of the Kingdom of Poland before Poland fully r ...

of Warsaw granted permission to celebrate services in the local chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the BVM. Shortly before the war, there came an idea of evangelization through the radio programmes. In December 1938, first test

broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

was aired from the newly established SP3-RN radio (Stacja Polska 3 – Radio Niepokalanów), which operated with a low-power transmitter on

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

frequencies. The Franciscan radio's activities did not progress beyond a few test broadcasts, as efforts to obtain a formal license for regular broadcasting were halted by the outbreak of the war.

The time of war

During the Second World War, the monastery provided shelter for many soldiers, injured in the

September Campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Sovie ...

of 1939 and also for war refugees, regardless of their nationality or religion. For example, at the turn of 1939/1940, a group of approximately 1500 Jews, displaced from

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

, stayed in Niepokalanów for several months, and the friars provided them with care. The war did not spare the inhabitants of the monastery itself. Father

, together with four other friars, was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

and he was murdered in

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

in August 1941 when he chose to sacrifice his life so another prisoner could live. That time the media evangelisation was forbidden (with the only one exception – December 1940 issue of ''Rycerz Niepokalanej'', which aroused the hope of surviving dark time of war). The Franciscans tried to keep up common prayers and help for the prisoners and numerous refugees. There was a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

, carpentry and dairy, a repair shop for

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the machine (mechanical), mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are list of agricultural machinery, many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractor ...

, bicycles, scooters, watches and many other items. The friars grew their own food, they had livestock, bee hives and chickens. Every day the local bakery provided fresh bread to many people in need. The courses of secret teaching were also held and PCK (

Polish Red Cross Polish Red Cross (, abbr. PCK) is the Polish member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its 19th-century roots may be found in the Russian and Austrian Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. On regaining its ind ...

) circle functioned. 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 ...

, the monastery became a refuge for the wounded members of Polish resistance, homeless families, and war orphans. Providing food for all that people was a big logistical challenge under the conditions of the occupation. In the end of the war (January 1945) during heavy bombardment of Niepokalanów, six friars were killed, some others injured and many of the buildings of the monastery were destroyed. In total, about 50 friars lost their lives during the entire war.

Niepokalanów today

After the war the

printing house In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. Origins of printing The history of printers in publishing in Western Europe dates back to the mid-15th century wit ...

in Niepokalanów was reopened. ''The Knight of the Immaculate'' was issued again, as also some books, dedicated to St Maximilian (e.g. ''Dwie Korony'' wo Crownsby Gustaw Morcinek). In 1948-1954 there was built a new church in the modernist style according to the design of the architect Zygmunt Gawlik from Cracow. In June 1950, by the decree of cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, a new parish in Niepokalanów was established (7500 faithful circa). In 1980, by decree of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, the church in Niepokalanów received the title and privileges of a ''

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

''. The church and the monastery were visited by pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

during his second Pastoral Visit in Poland, on 18 of June 1983. The visit of the pope made Niepokalanów famous not only in Poland, but also abroad. John Paul II called the monastery ''a heroic place where saint Maximilian lived'' and ''the environment of the Immaculate''. Today the monastery is an important

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

center in this part of Poland. Every year, on the way to Jasna Góra, the Warsaw Metropolitan Academic Pilgrimage makes a stop in Niepokalanów. The monastery is a popular destination for many local pilgrimages, each made with specific personal intentions (penitential pilgrimages, for the nation's sobriety and so on). Many pilgrims have been able to visit this historic place, to pray in the local basilica, to see a museum, dedicated to St Maximilian (called '' There was a Man'') or another museum – a collection of the volunteer fire department, which is housed on the upper floor of the fire station building. There also exist two ''worth to visit'' chapels in Niepokalanów. The first is a wooden old chapel, one of the first and most important buildings in the monastery. Constructed in autumn 1927, it was later rebuilt and expanded. In December 1997, after a two-year comprehensive

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...

, the chapel was reopened to the public. Visiting the chapel, the pilgrims have the opportunity to see what the beginnings of this large publishing monastery founded by St. Maximilian looked like.
The second one is a new chapel of perpetual adoration – "Star of the Immaculate" (in

: ''Gwiazda Niepokalanej''). Located in the southern wing of the basilica, it was opened to the public in September 2018, marking the 79th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. The chapel, one of 12 centers worldwide dedicated to prayer for peace, offers the visitors an opportunity for personal prayer and reflection around the clock.

Small photo gallery

File:Niepokalanow basilica fc75.jpg, St Maximilian's monument File:Niepokalanow convento fc11.jpg, Field altar on the west of the basilica File:Niepokalanow basilica fc119.jpg, West side of basilica of Niepokalanów File:N-ow OSP muzeum fc02.jpg, Pre-war fire car outside of the museum

References

External links