Pakość Calvary

In spring 1628 the parish priest of Pakość led the first service along paths he had laid out to mirror Jerusalem, using a 16th-century description of the Holy City by Adrichomius. This was the birth of Pakość Calvary, known as the Jerusalem of Kuyavia: a group of Passion chapels scattered along the calvary paths. The friary church holds the largest relic of the True Cross in Poland.

History: from wooden crosses to a shrine

The calvary was the idea of Father Albert (Wojciech) Kęsicki, who marked the stations with wooden crosses. The town's owners, the Działyński family, donated land for the paths, and the Archbishop of Gniezno confirmed the foundation in a letter of 5 March 1631. At the end of that year Reformed Franciscans arrived in Pakość; theirs was the order's twelfth foundation in Poland. Before 1647 the first chapels, both wooden and brick, were already standing. Two of them were consecrated as churches: the Crucifixion chapel in 1691 and the Caiaphas (Prison) chapel in 1797.

The calvary survived the Swedish invasion of 1654, when chapels were desecrated and paintings slashed. In 1769 a battle between the Bar Confederates, Polish nobles opposing Russian domination, and Russian troops was fought among the chapels; 97 fallen confederates were buried near the Ascension chapel. The Prussian government dissolved the friary by decree on 25 December 1832, and the Franciscans only returned in 1931, after more than 90 years away.

The relic of the True Cross

The relic came from the Reformed friary in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie; it was donated by Kazimierz Działyński, while Zygmunt Działyński and his wife Katarzyna funded a gold cross-shaped reliquary. On 13 September 1671 it was carried into the parish church, and the next day placed on the high altar of the friary church. It is thought to be a fragment of the Kyiv relic that Prince Volodymyr received at the baptism of Rus' in 988. A legend that Działyński bit off a splinter during a papal audience has no basis in the sources.

What to see

• The chapels and stations along the paths, including the Ascension, the Garden of Olives, Caiaphas (Prison) and the Crucifixion; the last two were consecrated as churches.
• St Bonaventure's Church, where Father Kęsicki, who died on 3 May 1647, is buried in the crypt.
• The Garden of Olives chapel, where two friars took refuge and died during the plague of 1656.
• The relic of the True Cross in the friary church.

Tripto tip

Allow 1.5–2.5 hours for the main chapels and wear comfortable shoes: the friary chronicles mention boggy ground, and the paths can be muddy after rain. September, around the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September), is a fitting time to come, as this is when the relic was brought here in 1671. This is a working shrine, so be respectful of services. The parish at ul. Barcińska 60 in Pakość answers questions by phone (+48 722 001 091).