Description of the attraction
St. Anne's Church is a church located in the historical center of Warsaw. It is one of the most famous churches in Poland with a neoclassical façade and is one of the oldest buildings in the capital. It is currently the main parish church of the academic community in Warsaw.
In 1454, Duchess Anna Mazowiecka (widow of Prince Boleslav III) founded a church and a monastery for Franciscan monks. In 1515, the church burned down, in its place a new church was built at the expense of Princess Anna Radziwill. The project was supervised by the Polish architect Michal Enkinger.
St. Anne's Church was reconstructed several times in 1603, 1634, 1636 and in 1667 (it was badly damaged during the siege of Warsaw and also plundered). In 1740-1760, the facade was rebuilt in the Rococo style according to the project of Jakub Fontana and decorated with two bell towers. The walls and semicircular vaults were decorated with paintings illustrating scenes from the life of St. Anne.
The last time the church was reconstructed was in 1788 by order of King Stanislav August Poniatowski. The facade was built in 1788 in the neoclassical style, typical of the reign of Poniatowski, according to the design of Christian Peter Aigner. The statues that adorn the façade were made by sculptors Jakub Monaldi and Franciszek Pink. The interior of the church in the Baroque style makes the decoration of the church very elegant and rich.
During the Second World War, the church was partially damaged, the towers and the roof were destroyed by fire. Restoration work was carried out after the end of the war.
Due to its location in close proximity to four major Warsaw universities, St. Anne is currently the parish church of the academic community.
