The former Bernardine complex in Grodno is situated on the right bank of the Neman River and occupies the summit of a high hill at the junction of Batorego and Komuny Paryskiej streets. The former Bernardine church dedicated to the Finding of the Holy Cross, which has been in continuous use since its foundation, is currently the oldest Roman Catholic church in the city.

The foundation and establishment of the Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross
The oldest document relating to the Bernardines of Grodno dates from 15 February 1494, when the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander Jagiellon, granted them the site of the former ducal manor — a square with a garden and orchard situated on the banks of the Neman. For unknown reasons, the intended foundation did not come to fruition and was only realised a hundred years later.

The first Bernardines arrived in Grodno in 1595, and the construction of their residence took over twenty years. Sources record numerous donors to the Grodno Bernardine community. According to local legend, soldiers of the Crown and Lithuanian armies contributed significantly to the construction of the church; whilst marching through Grodno, they are said to have passed a resolution that “every knight should contribute one thaler per horse’s hoof towards the church’s fund and construction”, which amounted to the considerable sum of 4,008 florins. Thanks to these donations, construction was able to continue, and the newly built church was consecrated on 13 May 1618 by Eustachy Wołłowicz, Bishop of Vilnius, as commemorated by a plaque set into one of the pillars.

Phases of the construction of the Bernardine Church
The church’s structure was built in several phases and therefore bears the hallmarks of various stylistic periods. The oldest part, still in the Gothic style, is the chancel, which forms part of the first church built between 1595 and 1600, probably following the model set by the Grodno parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Witold Parish Church. The next stage in the complex’s development is associated with the Lublin masons and the Bernardine church in Lublin, which should be regarded as the direct model for the Grodno church.

Various events influenced the building’s structure – both the church and the monastery were partially destroyed during the Muscovite invasion of 1656. Less than a century later, in 1753, Grodno was struck by two major fires, in which the Bernardines also suffered serious losses: the roofs of the church and monastery were burnt down, the fire damaged the structure of the belfry and destroyed the bells, and all the wooden outbuildings were also burnt down. The damage was soon repaired, and it is likely that during the construction work carried out at that time, the two upper storeys of the belfry, inspired by Vilnius Baroque, were erected, and a clock with chimes was installed on the rebuilt tower.

Interior furnishings
The 1780s saw extensive work on the new interior design and furnishings. It was then that the present-day ensemble of altars was created, amongst which the openwork, three-dimensional high altar, which fills the semicircular space at the end of the chancel, stands out for its splendour and form. In its central panel, alongside the wooden crucifix, stand stucco figures of the Virgin Mary, St John and a kneeling St Mary Magdalene; the sculptural decoration is complemented by figures placed in the openings of the side bays – St Dominic in a billowing cloak and St Francis of Assisi.

The character of the interior is decisively shaped by furnishings displaying Baroque and Classicist stylistic features. It is worth noting, however, that earlier elements have also been preserved in the church. These include, for example, the stucco decoration of the Loreto Chapel, dating from the 1680s, stucco decoration of the Loreto Chapel, which – despite unfortunate restorations and successive layers of whitewash – is very interesting both in terms of its subject matter and the forms of the sculptural groups depicted.

Before the mid-18th century, a grand organ was commissioned, featuring a facade with five imposing polygonal towers. Each was crowned by a tall plinth on which large sculptures stood: on the central one, Christ with scales and a globe; on the others, Bernardine saints. Among the wall paintings, the largest depiction was the elaborate scene above the rood arch, depicting the Assumption of Mary accompanied by figures of kneeling saints and popes. Both the painting and the aforementioned façade no longer exist and are known only from archival sources and old photographs.

The subsequent history of the Bernardine church in Grodno
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bernardine monastery hosted meetings of the nobility’s local assemblies for the Grodno district, and the fact that these were often turbulent is evidenced by a resolution from 1715, which ordered the payment of 300 zlotys in compensation to the monks for broken benches.

The church became a parish church on 14 August 1852, even before the monastery was formally dissolved. The monks went, amongst other places, to Ivia; two remained in Grodno, serving as chaplains to the local congregations of the Bernardine and Brigidine nuns.

On 2 November 1894, the former Bernardine church was the venue for the wedding of Eliza Orzeszkowa (née Pawłowska) to her second husband, Stanisław Nahorski, a lawyer from Grodno. In more recent times (1991), a commemorative plaque in honour of the writer was embedded in one of the church’s pillars.

The 20th Century
During the interwar period, the immediate surroundings of the church underwent changes – the brick wall of the former cemetery was thoroughly renovated, and the gate leading from the street to the church courtyard was also rebuilt; the courtyard was further fitted with iron grilles on both sides, made at the local Crafts School of the Polish School Society.

In 1941, as a result of artillery fire, the vaulting over the western part of the church collapsed. Buried beneath the rubble were the magnificent 18th-century organ and three Baroque altars from the former Chapel of St Barbara. A fire destroyed the church’s roof and the spire of the tower; the outbuildings were also partially burnt down. The monastery survived the blaze largely unscathed. After the Second World War, the building housed laboratories, court offices and a sanitary and epidemiological station.

On 17 August 1990, the authorities in Grodno returned the former Bernardine monastery to the Church; within its walls, the Major Seminary, founded by Bishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, officially commenced its activities on 1 September of that year.