Field Cathedral of the Polish Army The Field Cathedral of the Polish Army ( , also known as the Church of Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown ) is the main garrison church of Warsaw and the representative cathedral of the entire Polish Army . In the past the church served a variety of communities and roles : it used to be the church of the Collegium Nobilium and in the 19th century was also turned into a Russian Orthodox church . Currently all major military religious feasts in Warsaw are held there . It is located on Długa Street 13 / 15 , opposite the Heroes of the Warsaw Uprising Monument and Krasiński Square , close to Warsaw ' s Old Town . History . In the 17th century the Piarist friars were given a royal privilege to obtain a large parcel to the west of Warsaw ' s Old Town . The area , located along the newly paved Miodowa Street , was close to the contemporary city centre , but at the same time offered much more space than in densely populated town . The monks founded the Collegium Nobilium , one of the most notable schools of the epoch and a predecessor to the Warsaw University . In 1660 they also started the construction of a new church that would serve both the students and their teachers , designed most probably by Constantino Tencalla , an Italian architect active in the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time . The church , financed largely by King John Casimir of Poland , was to occupy the place of a former wooden church of Saint Prym and Felicjan , destroyed by the Swedes during the Deluge . However , following the wars with Sweden , Muscovy and the Cossacks , Poland ' s economy was in ruins and the king ' s abdication marked an end of the ambitious construction . Because of that , the construction lasted until 1682 . The internal works lasted two additional decades and it was not until 1701 that the church was finally consecrated by the bishop of Poznań Mikołaj Święcicki . The church continued the traditions of the earlier church of Saint Prym and Felicjan , but also received a new patron saint , the Holy Mary of Victories . A painting of Holy Mary the Gracious was imported from Faenza and relics of two Catholic saints were brought from Rome , donated by Pope Urban VIII . Due to its long period of construction , the church ' s design became outdated almost instantly after its completion , as late baroque was being replaced with classicism in European architecture . In 1730 the church was reconstructed according to the plans of Józef Fontana . Following the failed November Uprising against the Russian Empire , in 1834 the church was confiscated by the Russian authorities and turned into an Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity . Between 1835 and 1837 it was yet again reconstructed in a style reminiscent of Rastrelli ' s baroque churches . Its authors were Antonio Corazzi and Andrzej Gołuński . During the reconstruction much of the internal design was destroyed and replaced with Orthodox frescoes as well as with a large iconostasis . In addition , large , onion dome s were added to both towers . Simultaneously , the surrounding buildings of the former Piarist monastery and Humański ' s Palace were also reconstructed to suit the Russian style . After the Russians left Warsaw in 1915 , the church was used by the German army stationed in Warsaw as a depot . After Poland regained her independence in 1918 , the decision was made to reconstruct the church back to its former look . Between 1923 and 1927 the church was yet again reconstructed , this time by Oskar Sosnowski , who based his design on 17th century drawings . After the refurbishment the shrine was yet again consecrated as a Catholic church , but it was not returned to the Piarists . Instead , it rose to the dignity of a cathedral , as it became the seat of the field bishop of the Polish Army . During the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 the cathedral was one of the churches frequently targeted by the Luftwaffe . Heavy fights were also fought for the ruins , as the preserved western tower was used as an observation post . At the same time the cellars of the monastery and the crypts beneath the church were used as a provisional field hospital . The remnants of the church , along with the hospital , were destroyed by German aerial bombardment on August 20 , 1944 . After the war , between 1946 and 1960 the church was restored to its former glory by a team of architects led by Leon Marek Suzin . The church remained the seat of the bishop of the army , though that post was almost purely titular as in Communist - led Poland religion had no place in the army . The official institution of the Field Bishop of the Polish Army ( along with similar posts for other denominations ) was restored after Poland regained sovereignty following the 1989 Autumn of Nations . The church consequently regained the status of a cathedral , one of three cathedrals in Warsaw currently . Notable features . The cathedral is currently the central church of the Polish Army and all major religious feasts related to the Polish armed forces are held there . The frontal façade is marked by a large tympanum pointed by a sculpture depicting the Holy Mary and sided by two low towers . On both sides of the main entrance there are a number of stone tablets commemorating notable Polish military units of the past , as well as an anchor and a propeller symbolizing two branches of the Polish armed forces . The church ' s lobby is marked by a number of symbolic paintings depicting some of the most prominent Polish battles and Uprisings . Additional battles are depicted on a bronze gate . The main altar contains a sculpture of the patron saint of the church , Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown . Beneath the sculpture there is a steel grating with hundreds of military decorations and votive plaques donated by the soldiers . To the left there is a small " Chapel of the Polish Soldier - a Mausoleum of the Defenders of the Motherland " . Among the battles featured on stone slabs there are the battle of Cedynia , battle of Grunwald , battle of Vienna , battle of Westerplatte , defence of Warsaw , Warsaw Uprising and the battle of Berlin , as well as other battles of World War II . A chapel to the right of the altar is devoted to the victims of the Katyn massacre . Approximately 15 , 000 small tablets mark the names of the Polish officers mass murdered by the NKVD in 1940 , while additional 7000 wait for the names of those , whose bodies are yet to be found . Some of the pre - war paintings that were destroyed by the Germans in 1944 were replaced with paintings by Michael Willmann , brought to Warsaw from Silesia after the war .