St Roch's Bastion, Jasna Góra

The walls of St Roch's Bastion still bear the marks of Swedish cannonballs from the siege of Jasna Góra in 1655. This massive, many-sided bastion at the north-western corner of the former Jasna Góra fortress was built in 1631–1636. Its oldest walls were only uncovered in the 1990s, and today it houses the Treasury of National Memory, with votive offerings, militaria and historical memorabilia.

History: a fortress around an icon

Work on fortifying the monastery began in the 1620s to protect the miraculous icon and the pilgrims. The whole complex was designed by the royal architect and military engineer Andrea dell'Aqua as a quadrangle with four corner bastions. St Roch's Bastion was built by the mason Jan Zywerth. The walls withstood the Swedish siege of 1655–1656. From 1674 the fortress was modernised to designs by Krzysztof Mieroszewski, and in 1813, after Russian troops arrived, Tsar Alexander I ordered it to be dismantled: the upper walls were pulled down, the moats filled in and the ramparts levelled.

In the early 1990s, during conservation work that began in 1991, parts of the 1631–1636 fortifications were uncovered. Among them were walls that had survived the 1655 siege and still bore the marks of cannonballs. The interiors were restored, and on 3 May 2006 the Treasury of National Memory opened here. It displays nearly 500 votive works of art, militaria and items from the former Jasna Góra arsenal.

What to see

• The bastion platform with cannons, with views over the monastery and the city from the old fortress walls.
• The casemates, with the exhibitions "The National Uprising of Solidarity in Pilgrims' Votive Offerings" and "My Homeland – Polish Roads to Freedom".
• Memorabilia of the victims of the Smolensk air disaster of 10 April 2010.
• The exhibition "Bogurodzica – the Splendour of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth", with militaria and oriental pieces, including trophies from the Battle of Vienna donated by King John III Sobieski's family. According to the shrine, it is currently partly closed.
• Lech Wałęsa memorabilia, including his pen and his Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma.

Interesting facts

During the 1655 siege the fortress was defended by about 160 soldiers and fewer than a hundred monks under Prior Augustyn Kordecki. They faced around 4,000 Swedes. Today a bronze monument to Kordecki from 1859 stands on the ramparts, on the Potocki Bastion in the south-eastern corner.

Tripto tip

According to the shrine (as of October 2026), the bastion is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00, and from 9:00 to 16:00 between 1 November and the end of February. Photography and filming in the museum rooms require the monastery's permission. Allow about 45 minutes for the exhibition. Combine the bastion with the Treasury, the 600th Anniversary Museum, the Chapel of Our Lady and a walk along the ramparts with the Stations of the Cross. Groups can book a guide at the Jasna Góra Information Centre; current prices and booking rules are on the shrine's website.