Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Gliwice

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Gliwice is a Baroque church with a monastery, run by the Redemptorists. Since 2015 it has been a Marian shrine with an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The church was entered in the heritage register in 1960.

From a wooden chapel to a monastery

The first mention of a wooden church on this site is dated 10 March 1516, and the brick Baroque church was built in 1623. In 1612 a Franciscan, Father Bonaventure, came to Gliwice, and the town gave him the church and a garden. In 1677 the church and monastery burned down. The reconstruction was supervised by Franciszek Sikora to a design by Melchior Stokłosa, and the founders included King John III Sobieski. In 1683 Sobieski stayed at the monastery on his way to Vienna and planted lime trees. In 1810 the monasteries were dissolved, in 1816 a grammar school was opened in the building, and in 1925 the monastery returned to the religious, this time the Redemptorists.

Architecture and furnishings

The Baroque church designed by Melchior Stokłosa has a chancel of two bays and cross-barrel vaults, and a ridge turret stands above the roof. In 1924-1926 the nave was enlarged by two bays, and a chapel and a porch were added. A fire in July 1980 destroyed the historic polychrome painting and furnishings, and the renovation lasted three years. The furnishings date mainly from the 18th century. The side altars are dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the Holy Family and St Barbara. On the chancel arch an 18th-century polychrome has survived, and the remaining paintings were done in 1925 by Karl Platzek. The organ has 25 stops and uses a Baroque case of 1798 from the church in Racibórz.

Monastery and cemetery

The Baroque monastery stands on the west side of the church. It is a brick, four-winged building with an inner cloister garden. The former monastery cemetery was closed in 1902, and on it stands the Neo-Gothic cemetery chapel of the Galli family.

Nearby

The church lies near the centre, a few hundred metres from the Piast Castle and the Gliwice Museum. Villa Caro is also not far away.

Practical information

• Address: ulica Ignacego Daszyńskiego 2, Gliwice.
• A working church and monastery. Check the rules for entering the interior with the parish.