Holy Trinity Cathedral, Drohiczyn

In the 18th century the regional assemblies of the Podlasie nobility met beneath these vaults; during the Second World War the church was turned into a stable, and later into a shooting range. Today the Baroque Jesuit church above the Bug River is the cathedral of the Diocese of Drohiczyn, and in 1999 Pope John Paul II prayed here. It is the best starting point for exploring Drohiczyn, a small town that for centuries was one of the key centres of the Podlasie region in eastern Poland.

History: from Jagiełło's parish to cathedral

According to tradition, the Holy Trinity parish was founded at the end of the 14th century by Władysław Jagiełło, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, on a hill known as Poświętne. The first brick church, in Renaissance style, was built in 1555, but on 3 May 1657, during the Swedish invasion known in Poland as "the Deluge", it was destroyed by the troops of George II Rákóczi of Transylvania. The parish then passed to the Jesuits, who had come to Drohiczyn in 1654. After 1696 they began building the present church, initiated and funded from a family inheritance by Father Aleksander Żardecki. It was completed in 1709, its furnishings were funded by Wiktoryn Kuczyński, castellan of Podlasie, and it was consecrated on 10 January 1723.

After the Jesuit order was dissolved, the college and parish passed to the Piarists, and after their monastery was closed in 1845, to diocesan clergy. According to the parish, this was the only church in Drohiczyn that the Tsarist authorities did not close. The worst came in 1939–1941: Soviet occupiers hacked apart the Baroque altars and used the interior as a stable. The Germans turned it into a shooting range in 1941–1944. Rebuilding took years after the war, and on 5 June 1991, when the Diocese of Drohiczyn was created, the church became its cathedral.

What to see

The cathedral is a three-aisled brick basilica, with the nave covered by a barrel vault with lunettes. The war destroyed most of the Baroque decoration — the high altar was never recreated, and today's stylised replacement holds paintings of the Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Ostra Brama (the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius). Several valuable works did survive, though:

• a late Gothic crucifix from the end of the 16th century,
• a Baroque sculpture of the Risen Christ from the 18th century,
• a late Renaissance baptismal font from the early 17th century,
• a Rococo monstrance,
• carved details from the Renaissance church of 1555, set into the walls of the porch.

The crypt, where the governors and castellans of Podlasie were once buried, holds members of the Kuczyński family, Bishop Kazimierz Bukraba of Pinsk and the first Bishop of Drohiczyn, Władysław Jędruszuk. It was at his grave that John Paul II prayed on 10 June 1999. Next to the cathedral stands a bell tower of 1885, built from the bricks of a demolished monastery wing, and the former Jesuit college now houses the diocesan curia and the seminary.

Tripto tip

The cathedral stands on ul. Kościelna in the historic centre and is an active parish church, so visit the interior outside service times. Allow 30–45 minutes for the church itself, but Drohiczyn is best explored over half a day. Look into the former Franciscan church and monastery with the Diocesan Museum, the Benedictine nuns' church and Castle Hill above the Bug.

Drohiczyn also has a remarkable medieval chapter. According to historical accounts, it was here in 1253 that Prince Daniel Romanovich received the crown of King of Rus' from a papal legate — in an earlier church that stood on the site of the later Franciscan church.