St. Florian's Cathedral, more formally known as the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Florian the Martyr (), 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 ...

and

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 ...

, dedicated to St. Florian. The church is located at 3 Floriańska Street in

Praga-Północ Praga-North (Polish language, Polish: ''Praga-Północ''), also known as North Praga, Praga North, is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland, located in the central part of the city. History Praga is one of the oldest districts in Warsaw. Thro ...

district 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 ...

History

There has been a Catholic church presence in or around the site of the future church since 1583. However, the impetus for creating a lasting church did not arrive until the late 19th century, when Poland was not an independent country. The map of Europe was redrawn during the 1815

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

and the resulting territorial maneuvers placed the French

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

under the control of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, transforming it into the

Congress 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 w ...

.Nicolson, Sir Harold (2001)
''The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity: 1812–1822''
Grove Press; Rep. Ed. pp. 140-164. Among other intrusions, over twenty

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

churches were built in Congress Poland. To protest against the perceived imposition of a foreign church, and in direct reaction to the monumental Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene built down the street, St Florian’s was built with two commanding 75-meter (246 ft) towers between 1897–1904.Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Florian the Martyr website
Retrieved March 29, 2011 The church is named after St. Florian, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of professions associated with fire, such as firefighters, steelworkers,

chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who inspects then clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combust ...

s, potters and bakers.

World War II destruction

During and after the Siege of Warsaw, churches were used as a hiding place for Jews, the Warszawa Army and as a general refuge for civilians. St. Florian's was destroyed by the Germans as they withdrew from Poland in 1944 after 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 church remained in ruins for several years, but by the 1950s a reconstruction effort slowly began with support from

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at the e ...

residents. The rebuilt church was reopened in 1972.

Role in church hierarchy

St Florian's is the cathedral church of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Warszawa-Praga The Diocese of Warszawa-Praga () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located in the east part of Warsaw (Praga) in the ecclesiastical province of Warszawa in Poland. According to the church statistics about 31.4% attended a church a ...

and by order 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 ...

was raised to the rank of

in 1992. Over four hundred priests form the ministry in this diocese covering 1,274 square miles, divided into 160 parishes and serving approximately one million Polish Catholics.Cheney, David M.
"The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church"
Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved March 30, 2011.

Notable features

St Florian's is built in a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style distinguished by two twenty-story towers facing Aleja „Solidarności” ( English: ''Solidarity Avenue''), capped with bronze spires. Most of its exterior is made of red brick. Over the entrances are mosaic depictions of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and the emblem of the first bishop of Warszawa-Praga diocese, Kazimierz Romaniuk, while the interior is decorated in red or white plaster and brick.

Gallery

File:Bazylika Katedralna Sw Floriana.JPG File:PL Warsaw Kościół Św. Floriana.jpg File:Bazylika katedralna 1.JPG File:Bazylika katedralna 2.JPG File:Bazylika katedralna 3.JPG File:Entrance to Saint Florian's Cathedral, Warsaw.jpg

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florian's Cathedral 1901 establishments in Poland 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Poland Basilica churches in Poland Buildings and structures demolished in 1944 Buildings and structures in Poland destroyed during World War II Gothic Revival church buildings in Poland Minor basilicas in Poland Praga-Północ Rebuilt churches in Poland Roman Catholic cathedrals in Poland Roman Catholic churches completed in 1904 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1972 Roman Catholic churches in Warsaw Rebuilt buildings and structures in Warsaw