St. Casimir 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 in

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 ...

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

at '' Rynek Nowego Miasta 2'' (New Town Market Place, no. 2).

History

St. Casimir Church was originally the Kotowski Palace, residence of the Wyszogród ''

stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

'', Adam Kotowski. In 1688 it was purchased by Queen Marie Casimire, the consort of

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

, to be transformed into a church to serve the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament, whom she had brought to Poland. Bellotto New Town Market Square

In 1688-92 the Kotowski residence was transformed into a church-''cum''-cloister, to a design by the leading Dutch-born architect Tylman van Gameren (known in Polish as Tylman Gamerski). As with many of the buildings that were reconstructed after the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis. Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

, Tylman designed the church in

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style. Between 1718 and 1721 the

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

altars of St. Casimir and

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

were sponsored by

Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł Prince Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł (; 26 October 1625 or 26 October 1635 – 14 November 1680) was a Polish–Lithuanian noble and magnate. He is sometimes referred to as ''the first'' Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł, to distinguish ...

voivode of Vilnius The Voivode of Vilnius (, ) was a high-ranking Voivode#Commonwealth of Poland–Lithuania, officer in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who governed the Vilnius Voivodeship from 1413. He was considered as the most influential member of the Lithuanian Co ...

. In 1718 the church furnishing was completed with a profuse late baroque

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

in the shape of a

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

and between 1745 and 1748 with a

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 ...

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

. The significant additions in the second half of the 18th century were tombstones of the members of the

Sobieski family The House of Sobieski (plural: Sobiescy, feminine form: Sobieska) was a prominent magnate family of szlachta, Polish nobility in the 16th and 17th centuries, from which the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Jan III Sobieski originated. ...

- Maria Karolina Sobieska de Bouillon (the granddaughter of John III of Poland) and Maria Józefa Sobieska. In 1769, the former 17th century

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

was replaced with a new marble one decorated with

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. During the

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 ...

the nuns donated some of the church equipment to the army - 12 silver candlesticks from

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, 5 gilded

reliquaries A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported or actual physic ...

, 52 precious votives and 4 statues of angels from the main altar - 412 silver grzywnas worth. 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 ...

, 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 ...

, like nearby St. Hyacinth's Church, St. Casimir was used as a hospital. The nuns housed many civilians in the church and cellars and gave medical aid as well as they could. In August 1944 they decided to suspend their rules to assist wounded insurgents. Because of this decision the German military targeted the church and the cloister for heavy bombing. During a single raid on August 31, 1944, four priests, 35 nuns and over a thousand civilians sheltering in the church's crypt were killed. Sobieska's magnificent church and cloisters was destroyed. The church was reconstructed in 1947–53, but the Kotowski Palace was never restored.

Interior

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

design. The facade is baroque, although the interior is completely modern, because very few of the original furnishings of the church were preserved. Inside, the most valuable element of the original church's decoration are the preserved fragments of a brilliant tomb monument of Maria Karolina Sobieska de Bouillon carved by Lorenzo Mattielli in white and black marble in 1746. The effigy of the founder in an oval frame was placed atop the

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

with the

Janina coat of arms Janina is a Polish nobility clan coat-of-arms. Borne by several noble families descended in the-male line from the medieval lords of Janina (the eponyms of the clan) or legally adopted into the clan upon ennoblement. History Janina is the ...

and a royal crown. The whole composition was completed with carved statues of the

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

and a

putto A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

, while the arcade above was adorned with

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

s. The tombstone was reconstructed in 1961 by Antoni Szymanowski.

Charlotte, Duchess of Boullion's Monument

File:Tombstone of Karolina Sobieska de Bouillon.JPG, 19th-century engraving File:Narobek Charlotty de Boullion.jpg, Overview File:Księżna de Boullion - Płaskorzeźba.jpg, Charlotte's bust

Photos

File:Ruins_of_St_Casimir_Church.jpg, The ruins of St. Casimir Church near the end of World War II File:VarsaviaPiazzaMercatoCittàNuovaLatoEst.jpg, The church from the New Town square

References

External links