Łódź Cathedral (Archcathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus Kostka)

The tallest building in Łódź is not an office tower but a church. The tower of the Archcathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus Kostka at 265 Piotrkowska Street rises 104.5 metres, and the church itself — built of bare, pale-yellow brick — was paid for by the city's textile barons and modelled on the Gothic minster in Ulm. Its story includes looting by the Gestapo, a mushroom farm in the crypt and a fire that destroyed the entire roof.

History: the factory owners' cathedral

The building committee was set up in 1895. Its members included the city's leading industrialists, among them Juliusz Teodor Heinzel, Edward Herbst, Juliusz Kunitzer and Józef Richter, and the city gave part of the former Hospital Square for the church. The 1898 design competition was won by the Łódź firm Wende & Zarske, working with the Berlin architect Emil Zillmann; the design was later enlarged by architects including Józef Pius Dziekoński and Sławomir Odrzywolski, while the Viennese Zygfryd Stern designed the interior. The cornerstone was blessed on 16 June 1901 by Archbishop Wincenty Chościak-Popiel of Warsaw, and the walls went up in 1901–1912 in the so-called Rohbau style — exposed, unplastered brick. On 10 December 1920 Pope Benedict XV made the church the cathedral of the new Diocese of Łódź, and on 15 October 1922 Bishop Wincenty Tymieniecki consecrated it. The tower and its spire were completed in 1927.

War and fire

On 9 November 1941 the Gestapo stripped the cathedral of its valuables and vestments. The German occupiers turned it into a military warehouse, destroyed the stained glass, carried off the largest bell and set up a mushroom farm in the bishops' crypt. The church was restored after the war, but on 11 May 1971 the whole roof burned; falling plaster and the heat damaged the vaults, furnishings and organ. The cathedral reopened on 16 December 1972.

What to see

• The three-aisled basilica with transept, ambulatory around the chancel and ribbed cross vaults; outside, note the buttresses and flying buttresses, just like on a medieval cathedral.
• The Wolfgang Eisenbarth organ of 1977 — 58 stops, donated by the bishops' conferences of Germany and Austria to replace the instrument lost in the fire. Organ concerts and festivals are held here regularly.
• The "Heart of Łódź" bell, cast to replace the bell stolen during the war and hung in 2011.
• The crypt of 1935–1936, where the bishops of Łódź are buried.

Did you know?

• Authorship of the design was long disputed: in the 1970s it was credited solely to Zillmann, while today Wende and Zarske are recognised as co-authors.
• On 13 June 1987 Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral; in 1989 he made it a minor basilica, and when the Archdiocese of Łódź was created in 1992 it became an archcathedral.

Tripto tip

This is a working parish church: weekday Masses are held at times including 7:00, 8:00, 12:00, 17:00 and 18:00, and on Sundays roughly every hour and a half, so visit the interior between services. Allow 20–30 minutes. The tower is best photographed from further away along the southern stretch of Piotrkowska Street — close up it hardly fits in the frame. For organ concerts and the current service schedule, check with the parish office or its website.