Church of the Assumption (Franciscan Church) in Drohiczyn

The white Baroque church on Plac Kościuszki in Drohiczyn is the fifth Franciscan church to stand on this spot. Its predecessors were lost to fire and war, but this one survived the partitions, the conversion of its friary into a prison and an arson attack in 1941. According to the friary's tradition, it stands where Prince Daniel Romanovich was crowned King of Ruthenia in 1253.

History: five churches on one site

A tradition written down in 1797 by the Franciscan Karol Gaudenty Żero credits the founding of the friary to Mikołaj Nasuta, the local starost. Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania confirmed the friars' endowment in 1407, and a wooden church and friary were built in 1409. Successive buildings burned in 1559, 1583, around 1595 and in 1601, and in 1657, during the Swedish invasion known as the Deluge, troops destroyed the friary and killed several friars.

The guardian Antoni Gałecki began the brick church in the late 17th century (sources give around 1678 or 1682). It was finished around 1715, paid for by the nobility of Podlasie, and consecrated in 1733. Next to it rose a brick friary (1737–1751) and a free-standing bell tower from 1773–1777.

Partitions, war and rebuilding

After the November Uprising failed, the Russian authorities expelled the Franciscans from Drohiczyn in 1832. The friary became a prison and later barracks, and for a time the sacristy housed an Orthodox chapel. After Poland regained independence, a secondary school moved into the friary, and work on the ruined church began in 1929. On 23 June 1941 Soviet troops set the church on fire, destroying the roof, the altars and the top of the bell tower. Rebuilding lasted from 1946 to 1954, and the church was reconsecrated on 15 August 1949.

What to see

• The Loreto Chapel – founded after the victory at Vienna (1683) by cavalry captain Stanisław Karol Łużecki and completed before 1696.
• The Rococo stucco high altar from 1762–1764.
• The altars by the chancel-arch piers, including "The Vision of St Anthony" painted by Antoni Gruszecki in 1775.
• Remains of a brick Baroque altar at the end of the left aisle.

Tripto tip

The church is a filial church of the cathedral parish, so the interior is easiest to see around service times. The former friary now houses the Diocesan Museum. Allow 20–30 minutes for the church and bell tower, and combine the visit with a walk up Castle Hill above the Bug River and to Drohiczyn Cathedral.