Holy Trinity Church, Gniezno

The Holy Trinity parish church (fara) stands on ul. Farna, a few dozen metres south of Gniezno's Market Square, on Maiden Hill (Wzgórze Panieńskie). It is one of the oldest churches in the city and for centuries was the burghers' most important place of worship – craftsmen prayed here, confraternities met and a parish school operated. The interior holds the biggest surprise: a late baroque pulpit shaped like a boat, with carved fish caught in a net.

History: the burghers' church

The parish existed before 1243, and the first church was probably built in the second half of the 12th century. The present brick, single-nave church was built through the efforts of the parish priest of Waliszewo, Fr Mikołaj Grossman, around 1420–1430; it appears in records in 1421, when building was permitted on land donated by Piotr of Żerniki. In 1613, during the St Adalbert fair, fire swept through the whole town and the church burned almost completely. Rebuilding took nearly 20 years; in June 1632 Archbishop Andrzej Gembicki reconsecrated it. Gniezno's later great fires, in 1760 and 1819, spared the church.

People and traditions

Archbishops of Gniezno, on their solemn entry to the cathedral, first visited this church and only then walked in procession to Lech Hill – a custom abandoned in the 18th century. In the early 19th century the church had as many as seven altars cared for by guilds: tailors, furriers, butchers and shoemakers. Until 1916 it was the titular church of a deanery that at its height covered 22 parishes and some 44,000 faithful. Parish priest Mateusz Zabłocki, a veteran of the Greater Poland Uprising, commanded the Citizens' Guard in September 1939; arrested on 12 October 1939, he was shot two days later. A plaque on the presbytery commemorates him.

What to see

• The boat-shaped pulpit of 1787 – with fish in a net, the most photogenic feature of the interior.
• The late Renaissance marble font in front of the chancel.
• Gothic sacristy doors of sheet iron from the first half of the 15th century.
• The Literary Confraternity chapel of 1611 (the confraternity was active from 1544) with a painting of the Coronation of the Virgin from the first quarter of the 17th century.
• The tower with a baroque cupola of 1687 and a chiming clock.
• The high altar, remodelled in 1895, with figures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St Adalbert and St Stanislaus.

Tripto tips

This is a working parish church; entry is free, but visit outside services. The interior takes 15–20 minutes. At noon, look up at the tower – the city describes a moving figure of St Adalbert that blesses residents and visitors at that hour. In the Middle Ages the Pyzdry Gate, also called the Parish Gate, stood right next to it; from here you can continue through the Market Square up to Lech Hill and the cathedral.