Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is a Roman Catholic complex in Krakow's Old Town district. It belongs to the Order of Friars Minor Conventual. Pope John Paul II resided here from 1963 to 1978. The window right above the entrance is known as a “papal window” due to the fact that John Paul II used to show up there and speak when spontaneous crowds gathered in front of it.

The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi or the Immaculate was built in the 14th century as part of a Franciscan convent. Erected in its present form in 1788, the church, made of sandstone tuff, has a baroque façade of three orders, with two imposing bell towers and a statue of the Saint in white marble; on the bell tower, on the other hand, there is a statue of the Virgin and Child.

The Abbey Basilica of Santa Giustina was founded in the 5th century, but the current building was built mainly in the 16th century. Until the Napoleonic suppressions of the congregations, the site was one of the main abbeys of Christianity.

The construction of the Church of St. James took place in several phases from 1380 to 1445 and was completed at the beginning of the 16th century. Like the tower (1562-1596), the late Gothic vaults date from the end of the 16th century. In 1721, Piotr Olszewski designed chapels on both sides of the tower. The interior of the church is mainly in neo-Gothic style.

The first church is mentioned in chronicles as early as 1247. However, controversy arose around this date. The first construction of a tavern on Marianska hora was completed quickly, just two years after the founding of the new Levoca. The church above the town was not suitable for space or construction. In 1311, the parish priest Henrich de Leucz (from Levoca) was responsible for the repair of the pilgrimage church. Leucz's successor, Parish Solomon, continued his predecessor's efforts for eleven years. The statue or image of the gracious Virgin Mary was already in the first church. According to the surviving record of the visitation of the Levoca parish from 1702, the birth of respect for the Mother of God of Levoca dates back to the first half of the 14th century.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran or Cathedral of Rome is the most important of the four great papal basilicas and the oldest and most important basilica in the West. The basilica was founded in the 4th century by the Roman Laterani family. The basilica has been damaged many times by sackings (410, 455), earthquakes (896, 1349), fires (1306, 1361), but always restored. Although some parts of the building bear witness to the old basilica, such as the magnificent Romanesque cloister and the ceiling, most of the present building is the result of a major remodelling in the 17th century. The nave and the interior design are the work of the architect Francesco Borromini. The monumental exterior façade was built in travertine in 1734 by the architect Alessandro Galilei. He was clearly inspired by the façade of St. Peter's in Rome.

The Basilica of St. Lawrence was originally a Romanesque basilica, which was rebuilt and extended in Gothic style in 1323. It rises above the remains of the walls of the previous Roman buildings, which were uncovered during archaeological excavations between 1960 and 1966.

The Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel was commissioned by Prince Honoré II of Monaco and built by the architect Lorenzo Lavagna at the beginning of the 17th century. The church was not opened for worship until 1653. In 1701, the architect Emmanuel Cantone erected a fifty-three-metre high bell tower on the west side, locally known as the "campanin", a veritable watchtower overlooking the city. The present façade was completed in 1819 in the spirit of the 17th-century Baroque style.

The Basilica of Saint Michael was built from the 14th to the 16th century, it is characteristic of the flamboyant Gothic style. The basilica shares with the cathedral Saint-André the peculiarity of being equipped with a bell-tower independent of the rest of the church. The building is classified as a historical monument since 1846.

The 13th-century Basilica of St. Nicholas is part of the Augustinian Monastery in the city of Tolentino. The church was a cathedral until 1586. Initially placed under the invocation of St. Augustine, the basilica was definitively dedicated to St. Nicholas after the accumulation of donations due to the popular fervour for the city's saint.