In terms of sheer physical size, the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Poznan, Poland, is not especially impressive.

The distance from the door to the main altar measures about 225 feet.

The church's magnificance lies elsewhere—in its history and its beauty.

The cathedral, the country's oldest, is the mother church of the Catholic Church in Poland. Not a bad place to spend Oct. 16, the 24th anniversary of the election of Poland's most celebrated prelate to the see of St. Peter, for those who have the chance.

The seat of a bishop has stood on this spot since the year 968, before the sees of Gniezno, Kolobrzeg, Wroclaw or Krakow were erected.

Such antiquity is not only important for the Church in Poland. It is significant for the nation as well. Poland's existence as a sovereign country dates from 966, when King Mieszko I was baptized. His choice was decisive for Poland's spiritual and political identity. The country became Roman Catholic, distinguishing it from most of its Slavic Orthodox neighbors. As a Catholic country, Poland could appeal to the pope against the predations of the Teutonic knights. The Catholic faith sustained the Polish spirit despite all sorts of invaders, her communist dictators being only the latest occupiers to come and go.

Visitors to Poznan can pray at the tomb of that visionary king: His sarcophagus (together with the remains from other members of Poland's first royal dynasty, the Piasts) lies in the Golden Chapel behind the main altar. Be sure also to visit the crypts below the cathedral, which contain a baptismal basin that might have been Mieszko's.

The cathedral's guidebook takes care to note that SS. Peter and Paul is a millennial church in at least a twofold sense: 1966 marked the 1,000th anniversary of Poland's baptism, but 1968 marked the millenium of its hierarchy. Poland's first bishop, Jordan, was nominated in 968.

Peter, Then and Now

Pope John XXIII elevated the church to the rank of a minor basil-ica. John Paul II visited in 1983. The symbolism was striking for Poles: a Polish bishop who became successor of Peter returning to the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, the church where the faith in his home-land first began.

The cathedral, the country's oldest, is the mother church of the Catholic Church in Poland.

The cathedral may be modest in size, but it more than compensates with its sumptuous beauty and elegant proportions. The walls are a warm red brick, radiating a lambent glow in the light of a late winter afternoon when I visited. In most Gothic cathedrals, stonework is either white or dark, giving off an otherworldly coolness. Poznan's feel is warm and inviting.

Speaking of Gothic, a word should be said about the cathedral's architecture. Gothic elements predominate today, although pre-World War II visitors might remember the church as neoclassical. The region around Poznan, “Greater Poland” (Wielkopolska), was the site of much fighting in World War II. Unlike Krakow and Warsaw, which the Germans turned into a quasi-colonial regime, the General Gouvernement, Wielkopolska was annexed directly to the Third Reich. The most vicious persecution of the Church as well as the most thor-oughgoing extermination of Catholic clergy occurred in that region and on the Polish Baltic coast. When the war ended, 65% of the neighborhood around the cathedral was destroyed and St. Peter's itself needed to be repaired.

Panels of the Passion

Although the very first cathedral on the site was Romanesque, the origins of the present building lie in the Gothic era of the 14th and 15th centuries. (Even here, development is not continuous. A fire left only the cathedral's walls standing and, when the interior was rebuilt, it came out Baroque).

The first thing to catch a visitor's eye in the church is the polyptych over the main altar. The center panel depicts the Virgin Mary in the company of St. Barbara and 12 other virgins. When closed, the panels show eight scenes from the Passion of Christ. The polyptych dates from the 14th-15th centuries, the work of Silesian masters. Below the altar Christ is depicted at the Last Supper, surrounded by his Apostles. Next to the altar is an ornate pulpit from 1720, testifying to the church's baroque period. Twelve side chapels surround the church. A memorial to Cardinal Mieczyslaw Ledochowski stands in St. Joseph's Chapel. The cardinal defended the Poles' rights to faith and language during the forced Germanization campaign of Bismarck's Kulturkampf in the late 19th century. The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, set off by 18th-century gates, is on the same side of the church and next to the sacristy.

Poznan is famous for its annual trade fairs, which attract businessmen from Europe and beyond. The largest fairs take place in the fall and in January, so hotel space can be in demand—make reservations! And while visiting Poznan, make time for a visit to its jewel of a cathedral.

John M. Grondelski

writes from Warsaw, Poland.