The name of Piotrków Trybunalski is usually explained through the Crown Tribunal, which sat here for over two centuries. The town, however, has a much older folk tale about its beginnings - a legend of a powerful lord who is said to have atoned for his sins by funding dozens of churches across Poland.

Who was Piotr Dunin, called Włostowic

Piotr Dunin (Włostowic) is a historical figure - a powerful lord of the first half of the 12th century, one of the most powerful men of his era, closely tied to the ducal court. Legend has it that he committed a serious wrongdoing in his life, for which he decided to atone in a very specific, almost superhuman way: by building 77 churches across Poland.

Among these temples, so the tale goes, was the first church in Piotrków - dedicated to Saint James the Apostle, patron of pilgrims. For centuries this legend served as the unofficial story of the town's beginnings, long before it gained any political importance.

Churches & MonasteriesParish Church of St James the Apostlea 55-meter tower, where Tribunal deputies were required to attend morning mass from 1578📍 Piotrków Trybunalski, Krakowskie Przedmieście 2See the attraction →

Legend versus the town's historical beginnings

It is worth stressing that the story of the 77 churches is a folk tale, not a documented historical fact - the number 77 is symbolic, as in many other medieval founding legends, where round or "magic" numbers were meant to underline the scale of the founder's penance and piety. The historically confirmed beginnings of Piotrków as a centre of real importance date only from the time when the town became the meeting place of the general assemblies of the Kingdom of Poland, and later the seat of the Crown Tribunal.

A tangible trace of that era is the castle built between 1512 and 1519 on the order of Sigismund I the Old, where the king resided during the Piotrków assemblies. Today it houses the Muzeum Okręgowe (Regional Museum), where visitors can see a hall connected with those former assemblies.

Piotrków, a town of many churches

Regardless of how much truth there is in the legend of Piotr Dunin, the town itself really does have a surprisingly large number of churches for its size - the effect of centuries of administrative and judicial importance, which drew to Piotrków both the Catholic clergy and other denominations. It is worth seeing, among others, the klasztor oo. Bernardynów (Bernardine Monastery) and the kościół akademicki Panien Dominikanek (Academic Church of the Dominican Sisters), both important stops on the trail of the town's religious heritage.

Churches & MonasteriesMonastery of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Bernardines)home to the crowned icon of Our Lady of Piotrków, shut down by tsarist authorities for 58 years📍 Piotrków Trybunalski, Słowackiego 2See the attraction →

Anyone looking for more religious landmarks of the region will find plenty within a few dozen kilometres of Piotrków - similar, if less elaborate, founding legends also accompany other towns of the Łódź region, which you can read about in the Poznaj Łódź (Discover Łódź) section.

Why this legend is still worth telling

Founding legends, such as the story of Piotr Dunin, served an important function in old Poland - they gave a town a dignified, "serious" origin, often reaching back to times from which no documents survive. For a modern visitor it is above all an interesting starting point for a conversation about the town's history, not a fact to memorise for a test. Piotrków, regardless of whether the first church really was built there by a penitent lord, went on to become one of the most important centres of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth anyway - no legends needed, thanks to the parliaments and the Crown Tribunal, to which a separate article in the town's history section is devoted.

Walking today through the starówka Piotrkowa (Piotrków Old Town), it is easy to come across one church after another just a few minutes' walk apart - the best proof that the town really has had an unusually high density of churches for its size for centuries.

How to see the churches of Piotrków

Piotrków Trybunalski lies about 40 minutes' drive south of Łódź, with a good rail connection. A walk around the most important churches of the old town, including the parish church of St James, the Bernardine Monastery and the Dominican Sisters' church, usually takes two to three hours. Most churches can be visited free of charge, both during and outside services, but it is worth checking the current opening hours before a visit, especially outside the tourist season.