Description of the attraction
St. Brigitte's Church is a church located in the Polish city of Gdansk.
In 1374, the relics of the Swedish St. Brigitte were temporarily exhibited in the city during their transportation to Sweden from Rome. Residents of Gdansk went to venerate the relics, the cult of the saint began. In 1394, Pope Boniface IX gave an official consent to the construction of the Church of St. Brigit in Gdansk.
In 1587 the period of prosperity for the church ended. First, there was a fire that destroyed the residential part of the monastery. In addition, conflicts with the Lutherans, who occupied important positions in the city, intensified. As a result, the monastery was denied funding.
In the 17th century, the monastery regained peace and prosperity. During the reconstruction of the temple, three naves, 11 altars, decorated with paintings by Gdansk masters, appeared. According to Peter Wheeler's design, a beautiful Renaissance bell tower was installed in the southeast corner of the church. 60 nuns lived in the monastery. In 1724, a new bell tower was built on the western side of the church, an organ appeared, and the monastery library was significantly expanded.
After the absorption of Gdansk by Prussia, the property of the Order of St. Brigit was seized. The new authorities refused to accept new nuns into the order, which led to a significant reduction in the number of the order and its gradual destruction.
In 1807, Napoleon's French army occupied the monastery, turning it into a barracks. In 1817, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III decreed that after the death of the last nun, the monastery would become the property of the Prussian government.
After the creation of the diocese in Danzig in 1925, services in the parish of St. Brigitte began to be held in two languages: Polish and German, and this continued until 1939.
During the Second World War, the church was badly damaged, the reconstruction was carried out in 1972-1974 under the leadership of architects Casimir Zeno and Makur Sukuteri. In 1983, the newly restored church was consecrated.
