In Olomouc, the historic capital of Moravia, you can find numerous reminders of its links with our country. Few know or remember that on the eve of the campaign of Vienna, John III Sobieski admired the architecture of the local Jesuit church and the Bishop's Palace.

Jan III Sobieski in Olomouc
On his way to Vienna, John III Sobieski stopped in Olomouc on 26 August 1683. In a letter he wrote to his wife, Queen Marysieńka, the following day, he mentioned his stay in Olomouc, his overnight stay in the Dietrichstein palace opposite the town hall, and the famous work of the town hall clock with moving figures, already one of the town's attractions at the end of the 17th century, which the proud hosts wanted to dazzle the Polish monarch with: "So I had to spend the night in the town (...). They put me up in a tenement (...), and this was for the (...) sake of their clock, so that I could see it when the little people were turning around comme des marionettes before it struck". The astronomical clock (and its chiming figures) can also be seen today on the façade of Olomouc Town Hall. The current, social-realist clock dates from 1955, as the one mentioned by King Jan III was destroyed during the Second World War.

Sobieski was greatly impressed by the architecture of the Jesuit church and the palace of the Olomouc bishops: "The Jesuit fathers (...) did me great honour by calling (...) Salvator in their orations. Today I visited them and the bishop's palace (...); both could stand among Rome".

Plaque commemorating the Polish King's visit to the city

The Polish monarch's stay in Olomouc is commemorated by a bilingual plaque (founded in 2018) with a bas-relief portrait of the king by Dr Artur Lubos on the façade of one of the townhouses on the Upper Square. The commemoration was initiated - in agreement with the Olomouc authorities - by the Częstochowa "Silva Rerum Polonarum" Foundation. The plaque was funded by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.