St. Alexander's Church () 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 ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located on Triple Cross Square in central

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 ...

. It is near the south end of New World Street (''Nowy Świat''), the Royal Route, and Warsaw's Old Town. The church is one of Warsaw's most recognizable landmarks. St. Alexander's Church was designed in neoclassical style by renowned Polish architect Chrystian Piotr Aigner and was built in 1818–1825. In the late 19th century, St. Alexander's was remodeled into a larger, more grandiose

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

church with two side towers and a higher, ornate

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. It was destroyed in

World War II 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 ...

and reconstructed in its initial, simpler form in 1949-52.

History

The church was established by grateful Varsovians to commemorate Tsar

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

, who had conferred a constitution on the autonomous

Congress Kingdom of Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established wh ...

after the country's 18th-century partitions. The church was designed by Chrystian Piotr Aigner on a circular plan surmounted by a dome, in

Neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, between 1818 and 1825. The inspiration for the design was the Pantheon in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The foundation stone was laid on 15 June 1818 by Treasury Minister Jan Węgliński, standing in for an indisposed General Józef Zajączek,

Namestnik A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

of the Kingdom of Poland. The church was consecrated on 18 June 1826 by

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

Wojciech Skarszewski. The main altar was adorned with an oil painting of ''The Crucifixion of Jesus'' by Franciszek Smuglewicz. From 1886 to 1895, the church was rebuilt in

style, resulting in a much larger building with two prominent towers and a large peaked dome. The contest for the reconstruction design, announced on 14 April 1883, was won by Józef Pius Dziekoński. The original rotunda was enlarged by adding three

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-type ...

s on the Ujazdowskie Avenue side and two towers, and increasing the height of the dome. The southern

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

was embellished with a

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

of ''Christ Blessing the Poor and Crippled'' by Jan Kryński and sculptures by Teofil Gosecki. With these changes, the building became one of Warsaw's largest. During its existence the church has witnessed a number of historic events, including the 1912

funeral service A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

for Bolesław Prus, who died a couple of blocks away in his apartment on ''ulica Wilcza'' (Wolf Street). The church was destroyed in

, 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 ...

. During the German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

's bombing in the first days of September 1944, the church was hit by 9 bombs, collapsing the dome, main nave, and one of the towers. After the war it was debated whether to rebuild it to its prewar grandeur or to its original appearance before reconstruction. The church was rebuilt between 1949 and 1952 in a form similar to its original simpler design. The 17th-century white marble statue of dead Christ by a Roman or Florentine sculptor to the left of the altar was acquired in Rome by Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski between 1674 and 1694, and was transferred to St. Alexander's Church in 1826.

Images

File:Kosciol aleksandra trzechkrzyzy.png, Original design of the church, ca. 1855 File:Plac Trzech Krzyży Konrad Brandel.jpg, Early photo of Triple Cross Square, with Church in background (1880s) File:St Alexander's Church2.jpg, St. Alexander's Church ca. 1890–1900 File:AleksanderKosciol.jpg, South facade before 1939 File:AleksanderWarszawa.jpg, North facade before 1939 File:Wwa Kościół św. Aleksandra 16.JPG, Interior with altar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Alexander's Church, Warsaw St. Alexander's Church Roman Catholic churches completed in 1825 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland Neoclassical architecture in Warsaw Rebuilt churches in Poland Church buildings with domes Neoclassical church buildings in Poland Rebuilt buildings and structures in Warsaw

History

Images

See also

References