Description of the attraction
The Church of Our Lady of the Queen of the World, located in Bydgoszcz on Bernardinska Street, is called garrison by the locals, since the parish to which it belongs was founded by the military. Until 1971, St. George was considered the patron saint of the church, but the rector of the church Stefan Vyshinsky renamed the church entrusted to him.
The history of the Garrison Church in Bydgoszcz dates back to 1480, when the Bernardines came to this Polish town. They received permission to settle in Bydgoszcz from the king himself. By order of the Wrocław Bishop Zbigniew Olesnicki, a Bernardine monastery was founded here.
At the monastery, a church was built, consecrated with the names of St. Jerome and St. Francis, which completely burned down from a fire caused by a lightning strike in 1545. Then many monastery buildings were damaged, only the library with a collection of rare books and the hospital survived.
On September 23, 1552, the Polish king Sigismund Augustus ordered the restoration of the destroyed Bernardine church. Its only condition was the following: the height of the spire of the church should not exceed the height of the towers of the neighboring castle. The church was rebuilt in 1552-1557 and dedicated to Saint George. It was built in the Gothic style, but the Renaissance elements were also used in the design of its facade.
The temple was in a dilapidated state after the Swedish wars of the 17th century, so it was reconstructed, slightly modifying its appearance. Thus, the church received a square tower, which has survived to this day. In 1682-1685, in front of the temple in honor of the victory in the Battle of Vienna, Jan Paninsky founded a small chapel with the Loretanian hut of the Mother of God.
In the 18th century, the church had 7 altars and a rich collection of church items. By that time, the roof of the church was covered with tiles, and the floor was laid with ceramic tiles. The benches for believers were made of wood and decorated with carvings.
The church became garrisoned in 1838 during the Prussian rule. Then it was visited mainly by the soldiers of the nearby garrison. It has retained its status as a military church to this day.
At the end of the 20th century, during the reconstruction, frescoes of the 17th-18th centuries were found on the vaults of the church.
