St. John's Archcathedral
Archikatedra św. Jana Chrzciciela
One of Warsaw's oldest churches, with a brick Gothic façade. It was the site of Polish royal coronations and oaths, and its crypt holds many notable figures.
St. John's Archcathedral was begun in the 14th century and is the cathedral of the Warsaw archdiocese, in the Masovian Gothic style. It was once the burial place of the Dukes of Masovia. On 3 May 1791, the Constitution was sworn here. The last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz, and Gabriel Narutowicz, Poland's first president, are buried in its crypt. During the 1944 Uprising the church was almost completely destroyed, and a fragment of a German remote-controlled tank track is embedded in the outer wall as a memorial. The current building is a postwar reconstruction faithful to the original Gothic design. It stands next to the Royal Castle. Admission to the church is free, and the crypt charges a small fee.
Opening hours
Approx. 10:00–17:00 (no visits during mass; open Sunday afternoons)
Nearby sights
- Royal Castle & Castle Square
- Old Town Market Square
- St. Anne's Church & Viewing Terrace
- Warsaw Barbican & City Walls
- Multimedia Fountain Park
- New Town & Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum
- Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera
- Warsaw Uprising Monument