Grodno - despite irreparable losses - still represents the largest historical urban complex in Belarus. Silhouettes of historic churches and residences still dominate the contemporary city skyline.

Historic buildings in Grodno
After the ravages of the Second World War, the destruction of more than half a century of Soviet rule and the last thirty years of governments moderately concerned with cultural heritage, Grodno still represents the largest historical urban ensemble in Belarus. In spite of irreparable losses (the Vytautas Parish Church, which was blown up, the Bernardine Church, the New Castle, which was drastically rebuilt), the contemporary panorama of the city from across the Nemunas is still dominated by silhouettes of historic churches and residences known from modern vedutas. These include the Old Russian Orthodox Church of Borisoglebsk in Kolozha, the Old and New Castles (seats of the rulers, and in the 17th-18th centuries seats of every third Diet of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), the former Uniate (now Orthodox) Basilian Church, the post-Jesuit Church (New Fara) and the Pernardine Church.

St Francis Xavier Church
Among the listed buildings, the two towers and the dome of the post-Jesuit (parish) Church of St. Francis Xavier are one of the most characteristic dominant features. The present-day church is the third successful attempt by the monks of the Society of Jesus to install themselves in Grodno. The first negotiations to bring them to Grodno were undertaken by King Stefan Batory in 1584-1586. The magnificent brick church, built at that time with royal funds, served as a parish church after the death of the monarch and the withdrawal of the Jesuits from the foundation. It was commonly, but erroneously, called Vytautas' Parish Church (in reference to the original church founded before 1392, according to tradition, by Grand Duke Vytautas). The Jesuits settled in Grodno in 1622, and the construction of another brick church was interrupted by the Moscow invasion of 1656.

The foundation stone of the present church was consecrated in 1675. The church was consecrated in 1705, but the finishing touches were still needed, especially to the interior (including a contract for the main altar in 1736, and an organ in 1773). In 1725 a pendulum clock was placed on the north tower of the church; the towers themselves were raised and covered with cupolas in 1750-1752.

After the dissolution of the monastery (1773), which coincided in Grodno with the fire of the Vytautas Parish Church (1782), the parish was moved to a post-Jesuit church, henceforth called the new parish. After the communist authorities removed the last parish priest (1960), the faithful sacrificially cared for the parish church, gathering in the temple for services and not allowing it to be desacralized and closed. Liturgy was restored only in 1988. Since 1991, the church has been the cathedral of the then erected diocese of Hrodna. Adjacent to the church is the whole complex of buildings of the historical establishment, a significant part of which (the college and the school) has been used as a prison since the beginning of the 19th century.

Architecture and decoration of the post-Jesuit church
. The Grodno Jesuit Church is distinguished by the scale and quality of its architecture. It is one of the most impressive (60 m long, 30 m wide) 17th century religious buildings in the historical territory of the Republic. It is legitimately compared to Roman buildings. The temple was built as a three-nave, five-bay basilica with a dome on a tambour at the intersection of the nave and transept. Its façade is flanked by two, slender towers.

The sculptural decoration of the church is largely the responsibility of Warmian and Königsberg woodcarvers. In the presbytery, the impressive main altar (1737-1760), the work of Johann Christian Schmidt of Reszel, attracts attention. Sitting on a high pedestal, the two-storey altar is crowned with a radial gloria centrally placed against the window. The central axis of the composition is formed by the figures of St Francis Xavier (lower storey) and Christ, in the type of Salvator Mundi (middle storey). The other sculptures are arranged between the individual columns. In the lower tier are the Apostles, in the upper tier are the Evangelists and in the side wings are the Doctors of the Church. Most of the non-figural elements of the altarpiece are covered with rich woodcarving ornamentation.

Conservation work in the post-Jesuit church
In 2006, a fire broke out in the main altar, which led to serious damage to the two extreme bays of the right wing of the monument. Immediate conservation intervention was necessary. In 2007-2011, a joint team of Polish and Belarusian conservationists carried out comprehensive conservation work on the altar. The long-term project of the Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation was financed from the Programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage 'Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad'.

The southern (left) side aisle of the church is closed by the side chapel of Our Lady of the Congregation (Student). It contains, housed in a secondary, classicist altarpiece, the miraculously famous image donated to the former Jesuit church in 1664. Its name comes from the Congregation of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the pupils (students) of the Jesuit college were affiliated. A selection of miracles performed by the image are depicted and described on the backs of the 18th century stalls in the chapel. This valuable monument and remarkable product of Sarmatian piety has also undergone painstaking conservation following damage caused by fire.

Other elements of the Hrodna Cathedral's precious furnishings are also worthy of note. For example, the side altars in the transept and on the first pillars of the nave were created in 1709 by the woodcarver's workshop of Christoph Peucker in Königsberg, or the mid-18th century painting decoration (in dry fresco technique) depicting the life and miracles of St Francis Xavier.