All Saints Parish in Sieradz

The All Saints collegiate basilica in Sieradz is a Gothic church built on the orders of Casimir the Great in 1370, today the seat of All Saints Parish and a sanctuary of Saint Joseph. Since 2018 it has held the title of minor basilica and remains the city's most important place of worship.

Construction under Casimir the Great

The present church was erected in Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century, on the orders of Casimir the Great, in 1370. It stood on the site of an earlier wooden church, destroyed by the Teutonic Knights in 1331. The brick building was intended from the outset to be the main church of medieval Sieradz and fulfilled this role for the following centuries, serving a city that was at that time one of the region's more important centres.

The tower and rebuilding

A five-storey tower on a square plan was built in 1585, over two centuries after the church body was completed. The church underwent further rebuilding in the 17th century. In 1925, fragments of doors from the old castle in Sieradz were incorporated into the façade, which today is one of the few material traces of the fortress that no longer stands.

Interior decoration

The church interior largely dates from the Baroque and Rococo periods, though it also preserves individual Gothic sculptures from the time of the church's construction. The main altar from the mid-18th century is decorated with the coat of arms of the Sieradz region, emphasising the church's significance as a sanctuary connected to the history of the entire region, not merely the city itself. The church also contains several paintings by Wojciech Gerson and valuable liturgical furnishings from the 17th and 18th centuries, so the interior combines a Gothic structure with Baroque-Rococo decoration created several centuries later.

Minor basilica and sanctuary of Saint Joseph

On 19 March 2018, Pope Francis granted the church the status of minor basilica. Five years later, on 20 March 2023, the church was designated as a sanctuary of Saint Joseph, patron of the Włocławek Diocese. Both titles elevate the church's status beyond that of an ordinary parish, though it continues to be named as a parish. The tower built in 1585, added after the church body was completed, and fragments of doors from the old castle incorporated into the façade in 1925 show that the church changed alongside the city over six centuries before receiving its contemporary titles of basilica and sanctuary.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Kolegiacka 11, 98-200 Sieradz.
• Sunday masses: 7:00, 8:30, 10:00 (youth), 11:30 (children), 13:00, 16:00, 18:00 and 20:00; in July and August there are no masses at 13:00 and 16:00. Times of weekday masses are best checked directly with the parish.
• Getting there: the church stands in the centre of Sieradz.
• What to expect: Gothic structure with Baroque-Rococo interior, paintings by Wojciech Gerson, chapel of the Saint Joseph sanctuary.