Church of the Gracious Mother of God

The Church of the Gracious Mother of God is a Catholic Jesuit church in Warsaw's Old Town, standing right next to St. John's Cathedral. Construction began in 1609 as the Jesuits established themselves in the Polish capital, and the result combines Mannerist and early Baroque forms with a dome-topped facade and a famously narrow nave. The interior is known for its stucco vaulting and the wooden figure of Christ at the column. Like most of the Old Town it was deliberately demolished by German forces after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and rebuilt in the post-war years from old plans and photographs. Today visitors find a tall, surprisingly slender interior, still in use as a parish church and woven into the walking route through the UNESCO-listed Old Town.