St. Lawrence's Church

About

St. Lawrence's Church (Polish: kościół św. Wawrzyńca) is a Roman Catholic church located in Warsaw's borough of Wola.

A neoclassicist building, the site is best known as the central point of Polish "Redoubt No. 56" during the 1831 battle for Warsaw. A small wooden church was built here as early as the 14th century.

It was first mentioned in writing in a document by Antipope John XXIII dated 1412. Until the 17th century the church was just a branch of the St. John's Cathedral, and it was not until 1611 that a separate parish was founded in the village of Wielka Wola.

During the Deluge the wooden church was destroyed by Swedish forces, but was rebuilt soon afterwards. In 1695 the deacon of Warsaw Reverend Mikołaj Popławski founded a new church in its place, with the money donated by Queen-consort Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien. However, after King John III Sobieski died, the funds were withdrawn and it was not until 1755 that the construction works were finally finished.

The building was designed by Joachim Daniel Jauch. After his death the works were supervised by Johann Friedrich Knöbel. During the Siege of Warsaw (1794) the area around the church was converted into a...