Crypt of Jeremi Wiśniowiecki at Święty Krzyż

Beneath the basilica of Święty Krzyż (Holy Cross), on the summit of Łysa Góra, mummified bodies of the monastery's former residents lie in open coffins. At the centre of the crypt rests a figure in a nobleman's żupan and cloak, with a mace and sabre – by tradition Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, a hero of Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel "With Fire and Sword". Whether it really is him has divided historians for decades.

History: how the prince ended up on Łysa Góra

Jeremi Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki – voivode of Ruthenia from 1646 and one of the most famous commanders of the wars against the Cossacks – died on 20 August 1651 in a military camp at Pavoloch, shortly after the victory at Berestechko. His will asked for burial in the family seat of Wiśniowiec, but that funeral never took place. His body was temporarily laid to rest in Sokal, and when the Cossacks approached the town in September 1653 it was brought to Święty Krzyż and placed in the tomb of his relatives, the Oleśnicki family. For more than three and a half centuries the coffin stood in the Oleśnicki Chapel; in 2007 it was moved to the crypt beneath the church, which had been sealed since a fire in 1806.

A disputed identity

Since no burial records survived, the body in the centrally placed coffin was taken to be Jeremi. As early as the interwar years, the prince's biographer Władysław Tomkiewicz argued that the real remains had burned in a fire in 1777. A forensic examination in 1980 pointed to a man taller and older than Wiśniowiecki. The Kielce regional tourism portal, however, cites newer analyses said to support authenticity: the body's size and weight match descriptions from the period, and the coffin was prepared for a long journey. The question remains open – which is exactly why every visitor stops at the glass.

What to see

• The prince's sarcophagus, the body dressed in the costume worn by the actor playing Jeremi in Jerzy Hoffman's film "With Fire and Sword" – laid on the mummy in 2011.
• Coffins of Benedictine monks, the abbey's original residents, whose bodies were preserved by natural mummification.
• A heraldic cartouche, hussar lances with pennants and a banner, plus reproductions of Franciszek Smuglewicz's "Battle of Berestechko" and a portrait of the prince.
• Period weapons and militaria.

The monastery above the crypt

The abbey was founded by Benedictines, and the mountain and monastery take their name from the relics of the Holy Cross kept since 1723 in the Oleśnicki Chapel. In the 19th century the Russian imperial authorities turned the abbey into a prison, and since 1936 the monastery has been run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Tripto tip

This is not a waxworks – these are real human remains, so it is worth preparing young children for what they will see. Twenty to thirty minutes is enough for the crypt itself, but combine it with the basilica, the relic chapel and the walk to the stone field (gołoborze) on the mountainside. Opening times depend on the season and on church services, so check before you go.