St Anne's Collegiate Church in Wilanów: the church that was moved to make room for a garden

Anyone walking down ul. Kolegiacka toward the palace passes the collegiate church of St Anne, though they might not know the church stands here because of a garden. When Jan III Sobieski enlarged the Wilanów gardens in the seventeenth century, the wooden church that had stood earlier near what is now the palace Orangery had to be moved. It ended up where it stands today, at the junction of ul. Kostki Potockiego and ul. Kolegiacka.

The brick building standing today is a different one. It was built between 1772 and 1775 to a design by Jan Kotelnicki, funded by August Aleksander Czartoryski, then the owner of the Wilanów estate. A hundred years later the church underwent a thorough rebuild. Between 1857 and 1870, Henryk Marconi worked on it together with Leonard Marconi and Jan Huss, commissioned by Aleksandra and August Potocki. Archbishop Wincenty Popiel consecrated it in 1884.

Inside, the main altar in the chancel is worth a close look. Neo-Renaissance in style, made of red, grey and white marble, designed by Antoni Sikorski and Leonard Marconi. At its center hangs a painting of the Annunciation, painted in Italy in the seventeenth century. In the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace stand the sarcophagi and epitaphs of successive owners of Wilanów from the Potocki family.

The Potocki crypt and the collegiate title

Beneath the church floor lies a family crypt where members of the Potocki and Branicki families rest, the families who ran Wilanów for generations. This is not a place for a casual visit without notice, but the fact that the palace family chose this church as their resting place says a great deal about its standing.

On 16 October 1998 the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Józef Glemp, raised St Anne's to the rank of a collegiate church, meaning a church with its own chapter of canons. It is a distinction only a handful of churches in Warsaw hold, and one that passes unnoticed by many Wilanów residents even though they walk past the building regularly.

The parish of St Anne is based at ul. Kolegiacka 1, literally a stone's throw from the entrance to the palace and the Poster Museum. On Sundays Mass is held at 7.00, 8.30, 10.00, 11.30, with children and parents, 13.00, 18.00 for young people, and 20.00. It is worth checking the full, current schedule for weekdays and holidays at parafiawilanow.pl before you go.