St. Mary’s Church – Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Mary’s Church – Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called because of the architectural solution of the basilica , and due to the importance of the temple of the conceder, it holds several records. It is the largest building in medieval Gdansk, the largest historic church in Poland and the largest brick temple in the world. The cornerstone was laid under it as early as 1343, and the construction and subsequent expansion lasted over 150 years!

As it is easy to guess, even after what the church is called after, the construction was initiated by the Teutonic Knights, or the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Hospital, and until 1454 they had the right to appoint parish priests. This was often the cause of controversy among the Gdansk townspeople with the church representatives managing the church. The townspeople disliked some of the orders and customs introduced from above, differing from the practices used in other churches. For one and a half centuries, the construction and extension of the church changed its status, a large part of the chapels built was funded by various kinds of brotherhoods, which claimed the right to manage “their” parts of the temple. In the 16th century, in the era of the Reformation, the church was gradually taken over by Lutherans. The first Protestant ceremony was celebrated here in 1525. Since then, two types of Christianity were celebrated  Roman Catholic and Protestant ones. After 1557, the Protestants constituted almost the whole cast of the church, they occupied all the chapels. However, the Roman Catholic priest was parish priest. Finally, in 1572, the protégés “took over” the main altar where they performed the ceremonies until 1945. Catholic parishioners kept the presbytery for themselves.

As a result of the war, the church suffered many destructions. Fire engulfed the roofs, explosions caused numerous flaws and cracks in the walls. The reconstruction began in the 1950s and was completed only at the end of the 1970.