St. Anne's Church ( pl, Kościół św. Anny) is a church in the historic center of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, adjacent to the

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

, 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 ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...

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

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friars (''Order of Friars Minor''). The square in front of the church was a place of solemn

homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...

s 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: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from " The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

and incorporated into the city

fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''face ...

. 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 (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style according to

Jakub Fontana Jakub Fontana (born 1710 in Szczuczyn, died 13 April 1773 in Warsaw) 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 ...

'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 Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

. 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, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarc ...

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

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the P ...

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 ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

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 people, Polish architect and theoretician of architecture. Life Chrystian Piotr Aigner acquired extensive knowledge of architecture in the course ...

. Sculptors of that time were Jakub Monaldi and Franciszek Pinck, who carved statues of the Four Evangelists 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 (architecture), vault church architecture used in the Gothic architecture, Late Gothic and Renaissance architecture, Renaissance style, which is based on an elaborate system of cavernous vaults in a manner resemb ...

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 Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was th ...

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

Interior

Image:Felikskryski.jpg, ''Kryskich Chapel, Tomb of Chancellor Feliks Kryski '' Image:Wnętrze kościoła św. Anny w Warszawie 2015.jpg, ''General view'' Image:6 Warszawa 128.jpg, ''Main altar''

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