Church and monastery complex of the Dominican Order

The Dominican Basilica has an unusually beautiful and richly embellished interior, and many works of art in there come from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The space of the nave is surrounded by a row of eleven open chapels, among which the chapels dedicated to the families of Ossoliński, Tyszkiewicz, and Firlejowie outstand the most. In the chapels you can see altars from the middle of 17th century, many gilded figures, and big number of architectural details.

The current basilica has more than 700 years of history, since the first wooden church had been built in this place in the 13th century, when the Dominican Friars had arrived to Lublin. On 9th of May 1575, the great fire of Lublin also destroyed a significant part of the church. The church had been rebuilt and has survived to modern times, for years it has been modified, and equipment founded by representatives of famous noble families has been added.

An interesting fact related to the temple, is the fact that until 1991 the relic of Wood of the True Cross, one of the three most important relics, bringing many worshippers there, was kept in the Firlejowie chapel. Thanks to it, the basilica in Lublin ranked the third place, after Jasna Góra Monastery and Gniezno Cathedral, as the pilgrimage place in Poland. Polish kings had been making pilgrimage to the relics, including John II Casimir Vasa, John III Sobieski and Stanisław August Poniatowski. The temple was also visited by Karol Wojtyła. Unfortunately, the relic was stolen in 1991.