Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Strzegom

This Gothic church is about 80 metres long, built of local granite and basalt, and its tower still holds a bell cast in 1318 – one of the oldest working church bells in Poland. The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Strzegom was built by the Knights Hospitaller and has been a Monument of History, Poland’s highest heritage status, since 2012. Its carved stone portals with rarely seen scenes are reason enough to linger longer than at an ordinary church.

History: the church of the Knights Hospitaller

The Order of St John, which grew out of the Crusades, received Strzegom in 1180. Its earlier church of St Andrew was destroyed by the Mongols in 1241. In the early 14th century the order decided to build a much larger church, with financial support from the dukes of Świdnica and the town’s burghers. The main structure went up between 1250 and 1390, and finishing work continued until the early 16th century. In 1718 the church was damaged by fire.

In 2002 Pope John Paul II granted it the title of minor basilica, and in 2017 it became a collegiate church – the only collegiate basilica in the diocese of Świdnica. It is also a shrine.

What to see

• The west portal from the 1370s: Christ as Judge of the World with the Virgin and St John, and a tympanum with narrative reliefs from the life of St Paul, including his conversion at the gates of Damascus.
• The north portal with the Coronation of the Virgin and the rare scenes of Solomon crowning Bathsheba and Ahasuerus crowning Esther.
• The south portal from around 1400, showing the Dormition of the Virgin among the apostles.
• The vaults: star vaults over the crossing and in the chapels, net vaults in the nave. Look at the rib corbels too – some are carved as figures.
• The furnishings: a 4.5-metre stone sacrament house by Wolfgang of Vienna from the first half of the 15th century, a pulpit of 1592 by Caspar Berger of Legnica, a late Gothic font, a Gothic Madonna and Child in the neo-Gothic high altar, and a group of Renaissance and Baroque epitaphs.

Did you know?

• Neither of the two west towers was ever finished. The taller north tower reaches only the ridge of the nave roof.
• The 1318 bell was funded by Brother Przedbor of Widawa. It hangs with two younger bells from 1405 and 1424, all with inscriptions.
• In 1997 the upper half of a zinc figure of Christ from an 1850 cross on Cross Hill was hung in the church. In 1945 the figure had been cut in two by a burst of machine-gun fire; the fragment was found years later in the bushes.

Tripto tip

The basilica is a working parish church, so visit outside service times; check the parish website for Mass times and access. Allow 30–60 minutes for the portals and the interior; binoculars or a good camera zoom help with the tympanum details. A Holy Trinity monument stands in front of the church. The Gross-Rosen Museum in Rogoźnica is about 7 km away, and Jawor and Świdnica with their Churches of Peace are a short drive.