The Lord's Ark Church of Kraków

About

The Church of Our Lady Queen of Poland (Polish: Kościół Matki Bożej Królowej Polski), known colloquially as The Ark of the Lord Church (Polish: Kościół Arka Pana) is a historic Roman Catholic parish church located at 1 Obrońców Krzyża Street in Nowa Huta, the former district of Kraków, Poland. Built between 1967 and 1977, it was the first new church to be built in Nowa Huta.

History: As early as 1952 local residents formed a parish and started lobbying for permission to build a church but the Communist government would not grant building permits or allocate any land for the building. In 1956 residents delivered two petitions advocating for the building to local authorities and permission was granted. In 1957 they placed a wooden cross near Plac Teatralny (Theater Square) to mark the location of the future church. In October 1959 authorities withdrew the building permission and the land was taken back. This led to community protest by the residents of Nowa Huta and on April 27, 1960 when authorities came to remove the wooden cross the 1960 Nowa Huta protests broke out that were met with violence from the militia. In 1965 a new location was finally secured which is credited to...