St Agnes's Church in Kraków

St Agnes's Church at Józefa Dietla 30 in Stradom is a Baroque Roman Catholic church that serves as a garrison church. It was entered in the heritage register in 1935, and according to the register it was built in 1660-1680, of brick.

From a wooden chapel to a garrison church

In 1459 Hińcza of Rogów built a wooden church dedicated to St Agnes on this site and gave it to nuns following the Rule of St Francis. After three fires, in 1558 a church and convent of stone and brick were built, where Bernardine nuns lived from 1561. After being burned during the Swedish Deluge, a new Baroque church was built from the surviving Gothic walls (a decision of the nobility from 1658).

After the dissolution of the order in 1783 the buildings were sold; the church was then a warehouse and a scrap store. It was bought back only in 1926, handed over to the military parish in 1929 and returned to worship in 1932.

What is inside and in front of the entrance

In front of the church stands a monument to General Władysław Sikorski by Piotr Świstak, unveiled in 1990. In the church, on the right-hand side, the ashes of General Józef Haller, brought from Great Britain, were placed in a black marble sarcophagus in 1993. Since the renovation in 2008 the windows have held stained glass by Jacek Białoskórski.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Józefa Dietla 30, Stradom, Old Town.
• Nearby: Wawel Royal Castle and the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi in Kraków are within a few hundred metres.
• It is worth checking opening hours and visiting rules before your visit, because a military church serves primarily for the liturgy.