The Church of St. Casimir, Vilnius, Lithuania

It is the first Baroque Catholic church in the Old Town of Vilnius. Construction began in 1604, shortly after the canonization of Casimir Jagiellon (1602) – King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania - and was completed around 1618. The initiators of the construction were King Sigismund III Vasa (King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania) and Lew Sapieha (an influential politician and Grand Chancellor of Lithuania). The church was designed by Jesuit architects Giovanni Maria Bernardoni and Jan Frankiewicz, who based it on the Roman church Il Gesù, although the adaptation was innovative.

The church has had a difficult history: it was damaged by fires, successively converted into an Orthodox church, a warehouse, a Protestant garrison church, and during the Soviet era, it housed the Museum of Atheism. Returned to the faithful in 1989, it currently serves as a Jesuit church and a venue for organ music concerts.

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The Gate of Dawn, Vilnius, Lithuania

"Lithuania! My country! You are like health,
How precious you must be, only he can tell
Who has lost you. I see your beauty now
In all its glory and describe it, because I long for you.

Holy Virgin, guardian of radiant Częstochowa,
You who shine through the Gate of Dawn,
You who watch over steadfast Nowogród and its people!
As you once healed me in childhood, so miraculous—
When in your care, from my grieving mother’s arms,
I opened my long-closed eyes
And was able to step to your temple’s door,
To offer thanks to God for life restored—
So also may you restore us,
Miraculously, to our homeland’s bosom.
Meanwhile, may you carry my soul from the gloom of longing
To those forested hills, those evergreen meadows
Spread wide where the blue Neman flows;
To those vast fields painted in varied grain colors,
A landscape gilded in wheat, silvered with rye,
Where amber is the buckwheat and white as snow,
Where red clover blooms like a maiden’s blush,
And where green furrows entwine as ribbons, within which
Wild pear trees may sometimes be seen."

Sir Thaddeus - invocation
Adam Mickiewicz

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Church of St. Theresa, Vilnius, Lithuania

This baroque architectural gem was erected by the Discalced Carmelites between 1635 and 1650, funded by Stefan Pac. It stands on Aušros Vartu Street, right beside the famous Gate of Dawn. The façade design is attributed to Constantino Tencalla. The unified interior, rebuilt after a fire in 1760, represents the late baroque style with rococo decorations and frescoes depicting the life of its patron saint. The main altar illustrates the ecstasy of St. Theresa. Notably, the church served as a temporary resting place for the heart of Józef Piłsudski - Chief of State 1918–1922 and later as Marshal of Poland, playing a key role in restoring Poland’s sovereignty after World War I.

The Gate of Dawn visible in the background, built between 1503 and 1514, is the only surviving city gate in Vilnius. It houses a chapel with the miraculous icon of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Lithuania and a symbol of Vilnius. The icon draws pilgrims from around the globe, making the Gate of Dawn a spiritual center for both Poles and Lithuanians.

#wilno #vilnius #miasto #city #ulica #street #brama #gate #kosciol #church #litwa #lithuania #lietuva #architektura #architecture #photo #photography #sacralarchitecture

Church of St. Cosmas and Damian, Anusin, Poland

It is a wooden Orthodox church built between 1902 and 1904 on the site of an older church dating back to the late 18th century. It serves as the parish church for the Telatycze parish and is a typical example of log architecture from the southern Podlasie region. The church has a three-part structure with a three-story tower above the vestibule, an octagonal drum, and a characteristic onion-shaped dome covering the roof.

The interior of the church features an eclectic iconostasis from the early 20th century, containing icons of Baroque character. An unusual element of the decoration is the Stations of the Cross hanging on the side walls, which are rarely found in Orthodox churches. Around the church grounds, there is a stone slab with a mysterious, partially faded inscription combining Cyrillic and Greek alphabet characters, as well as a baptismal font located near a nearby stream.

#kosciol #church #cerkiew #prawoslawie #cerkiewprawoslawna #orthodox #orthodoxchurch #podlasie #polska #poland #temple #swiatynia #chrzescijanstwo #christianity #architektura #architekturasakralna #architecture #sacralarchitecture #woodenarchitecture #photography #fotografia

The St. Mary’s Basilica, Gdansk, Poland

The construction of St. Mary’s Basilica began in 1343 - it lasted 159 years! It was not until 1502 that the works were finally completed. The mighty and solid structure of the cathedral survived the difficult times of World War II, although it lost most of its equipment forever. Looking inside the basilica, we are overcome with delight and amazement. The ceiling seems endless, and the snow-white walls give the temple an even greater optical enlargement. At first glance, the interior is empty, there are no frescoes or special decorations. However, thanks to this, we focus more on the size of the temple and its most interesting works, of which there are really many here.

One of the greatest monuments of St. Mary’s Basilica are the Gothic altars, whose black and gold color contrasts beautifully with the white walls.

Another unique monument is the 550-year-old astronomical clock. This 12-meter clock shows not only the hours, but also the phases of the moon and the signs of the zodiac. It is the work of the artist H. Duringer from Toruń. Every day at 11:57 you can take part in the figure theater show of this unique astronomical clock.

#gdansk #kosciol #church #basilica #poland #polska #ulica #street #miasto #city #widok #view #streetview #oldtown #staremiasto #architektura #architecture #sacralarchitecture #architekturasakralna

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link do pixelfed: https://pixelfed.social/p/bobiko/785198908193463078

6/100 znów gnieźnieńska katedra

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Church of St. Anne, Królowy Most, Poland

The church was built in the first half of the 20th century for the Orthodox parish established in 1900. Construction began in 1913 and was fully completed before 1939.

The temple was constructed in the shape of a Greek cross, using stone and facing brick, in an eclectic style. Inside, there is an iconostasis originating from a church in Grodno. The polychromes of the temple were created by Włodzimierz Wasilewicz in 1939.

#krolowymost #cerkiew #cerkiewprawoslawna #orthodox #orthodoxchurch #podlasie #podlaskie #kosciol #church #polska #poland #swiatynia #temple #chrzescijanstwo #christianity #wiara #religia #religion #faith #view #widok #krajobraz #landscape #archotektura #architecture #architekturasakralna #sacralarchitecture

Defensive Orthodox church, Supraśl, Poland (part 2 of 3)

In September 1947, the Chief Directorate of Museums and Protection of Collections ordered the full reconstruction of the entire monastic complex.

After the war, an agricultural school operated in the monastery buildings, and from the 1980s, the buildings were gradually handed over to the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which carried out conservation and renovation work.

In 2021, the 37-year-long reconstruction of the main church of the monastery was completed. It is a structure that combines defensive and sacred functions, featuring elements of Byzantine and Gothic styles.

#suprasl #cerkiew #cerkiewprawoslawna #orthodox #orthodoxchurch #podlasie #kosciol #church #polska #poland #architektura #architekturasakralna #architecture #sacralarchitecture #temple #swiatynia #chrzescijanstwo #christianity #zamek #castle #monastery #monaster #russians #germans #history #historia