POZNAŃ'S CATHEDRAL

The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul rises on the location of Poland's first house of Christian worship. It was on this site that in 968 that a basilica with three naves was built. That original building was in 1038 by during a raid by the Czech prince Brzetyslaw. The current is the third cathedral on the site. Built in gothic style during the reign of Kazimierz the Great. It aquired a classical facade in 1798 and was extensively restored in the 19th century, at which time the Golden Chapel was added. In the Chapel is located the tomb of Mieszko I and his son Boleslaw I, the first crowned King of Poland The tomb is surmounted with statues of the two monarchs sculpted by Christian Rauch. The Cathedral suffered damage as the result of military activities during WWII. During restoration, the original gothic elevation of the facade was reinstated.

Some slight distance in front of the Cathedral stands the Holy Virgin. Excavations in the immediate perifery of the church have reveled that stretching below it and extending on both sides of it are the remains of the palace of Mieszko I.