This lovely red-brick Gothic churchwith a few Renaissance touches was built between 1582 and 1602 on the site of a previous wooden church and hospital. Officially named the Church of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary, it is known locally as the 'Church of the Poor Clares' as it was the home of the Order of the Poor Clares, a female denomination of the Franciscan order, from 1619 until 1835. The building was turned into a warehouse and later a fire station during the Prussian occupation of the city.
Church of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary in Bydgoszcz, known locally as the Church of the Poor Clares.
Renovated at the end of WWI and reconsecrated in 1923, the church now functions as the city's main garrison church, serving the 10,000 or so military personnel stationed in Bydgoszcz. Of the church's many wonders, of particular interest is the early 17th-century distemper ceiling inside the nave, featuring 112 polychrome panels of beautifully-executed flower designs.
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