St. John's Cathedral (St. John the Baptist) is one of two cathedrals in the city of
Warsaw, capital of Poland, and one of the oldest churches of that
city. Located in Warsaw's Old Town it is one of the Polish national
mausolea and the main church of the arch-diocese of Warsaw.
Originally built in 14th century as a Brick Gothic church, it served
as a coronation and burial site for numerous Dukes of Masovia. Rebuilt
several times, most notably in 19th century, it was preserved until
World War II as an example of English Gothic Revival. Levelled by the
Germans during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, it was rebuilt after the
war. It is notable that the reconstruction of the exterior was based
on assumptions on how the 14th century church may have looked like and
not on how it actually looked before the war.
In the crypts below the main aisle there are graves of several notable
people, among them numerous Dukes of Masovia, president of Poland
Gabriel Narutowicz, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, primates August Hlond and
Stefan Wyszylski, writer Henryk Sienkiewicz and the last of Polish
monarchs, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, who was also crowned in the
cathedral.
Photo 95, May 2007