Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrow in Limanowa

Monuments

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ul. Jana Pawła II 1, 34-600 Limanowa Tourist region: Gorce i Beskid Wyspowy

tel. +48 183372004

Towering above Limanowa's buildings are the soaring towers of the church, elevated to the rank of basilica minor in 1991. There is a sanctuary where the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows is venerated. Since 2018, it has also served as a collegiate church.

The first wooden church of St Nicholas was built in 1513 on a cruciform plan with a tower. The church, extended in the 17th century to include two chapels, an arcade, and a tower, burned down in the fire that swept the city in 1769. A statue of Our Lady of Sorrows and a 16th-century wooden Gothic font were rescued. A new wooden church was erected between 1776 and 1791, and the single-nave church with a tower was demolished in 1909. The present temple was built between 1910 and 1918 as a votive offering to commemorate the centenary of the Third of May Constitution. It is a brick three-nave Art Nouveau basilica with exterior walls lined with stone according to a design incorporating highland wood building motifs. The tall tower is topped by a neo-Baroque cupola. At the top of the façade is a sculpture of the Crucifixion, and below is a Polish eagle, dating from 1791 to 1891. The interior has figural decorations, polychromes, stained glass, sculptures and mosaics. The main altar from 1920, designed by Zdzisław Mączeński, was remodelled in 1965 to a design by Zbigniew Wzorek. In its central part is a Gothic sculpture of Our Lady of Sorrows. The pietà, made of linden wood and about 90 centimetres high, was created between 1300 and 1375 and comes from the Silesian school of sculpture. In 1753, it was moved from the chapel in Mordarka to the then-church. Its coronation was performed twice by Karol Wojtyła – as Metropolitan of Kraków in 1966 and as Pope in 1983 after the previous crown was stolen. Work on building a new organ is currently underway in the sanctuary.

The church is surrounded by an extensive church square surrounded by cloisters. Limanowa Calvary is decorated with a collection of statues of the Virgin Mary, brought from various parts of the world. There are the Stations of the Cross, the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, a 1982 field altar, a statue of John Paul II and a carillon, i.e., a set of bells playing religious melodies.