St. Florian's Cathedral, Warsaw

Saint Florian's Cathedral is known for its imposing 75-meter high towers that dominates Warsaw's Praga district. The church was constructed as much to meet pastoral needs as for responding to Russian domination over Poland. Building this church was more of an act of defiance and protest.

After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Warsaw was placed under the control of the Russian Empire and Russia started exercising its influence over the local population. Among other things, over twenty Russian Orthodox churches were built in Poland, including the Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene opened in 1869 on the same street.

As a direct response to the opening of Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene, locals started building Saint Florian’s in 1897 and it was opened 1904. The church is named after Saint Florian, the patron saint of professions associated with fire, such as firefighters, steelworkers, chimney sweeps, potters and bakers.

During and after the Siege of Warsaw, churches were used as a hiding place for Jews, the Warsaw Army (Armia Warszawa) and as a general refuge for civilians. Before Nazis left withdraw from Poland in 1944, they blew up this church. The church remained in ruins for several years until a reconstruction effort started in 1950s.

The reconstruction used the 19th Century bricks that made the church look very authentic. The rebuilt church opened in 1972. Today this church is referred to as the Praga’s Cathedral.