Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Łódź

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands on Plac Kościelny in Bałuty and is the seat of the oldest Catholic parish in Łódź, established in 1430. The present building dates from the late nineteenth century and for nearly five hundred years was the only Catholic community in the city.

A parish older than the city itself

The parish was established in 1430 by the Archbishop of Gniezno Jarosław Bogoria Skotnicki, long before Łódź was granted city rights. For nearly five hundred years it remained the only Catholic community in the area, serving the faithful from territories that only gradually became industrial Łódź.

Construction in Vistulian style

The present church was built in 1887-1897. The foundation stone was laid on 21 May 1888, and the consecration took place on 5 June 1897. The design was prepared by Warsaw architect Konstanty Wojciechowski, who specialised in sacred buildings, in Vistulian style, a variant of neo-Gothic. The building is masonry, three-naved, with a transept and two slender copper-clad towers on the facade.

Interior furnishings

The main altar is decorated with a Gothic triptych by Antoni Panasiuk. The windows retain stained glass from 1891, and the church has Vienna-made organs from 1892, with 37 stops. The terracotta floor comes from a donation by Izrael Poznański, a Łódź manufacturer. In the crypt is the gravestone of Maciej Wyszyński from 1822, the only surviving trace of the old town cemetery and the oldest gravestone in Łódź.

Blessed Stanisława Leszczyńska

The church houses the remains of Blessed Stanisława Leszczyńska, a midwife from Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, who was baptised in this building. This is one of the reasons why pilgrims from outside Łódź visit this place.

Heritage protection and renovation

The building was entered in the heritage register under number A/279 in 1971. In 2016, the entire parish complex was placed under protection under number A/280, along with the fencing of the former cemetery from 1892-1893. Between 2011 and 2018 the church underwent extensive renovation, including facade restoration and work on the presbytery building.

Practical information

• Address: Plac Kościelny, ul. Kościelna 8/10, Bałuty, Łódź
• Masses on Sundays and feast days: 7:00, 9:00, 10:30, 12:00 (for children), 18:00 (in July and August at 19:00)
• Masses on weekdays: 8:00, 17:30 (except July, August and the Christmas carol period), 18:00
• Mass times are worth checking before your visit on the parish website