Kościół Matki Bożej Jerozolimskiej, Warszawa

Kościół Matki Bożej Jerozolimskiej is a Roman Catholic rectoral church on Łazienkowska Street in Śródmieście, cared for by the Jerusalem Monastic Communities. Its present mass was intentionally made to suggest a medieval castle, through a postmodern rebuilding scheme. Notice the severe, fortress-like silhouette and the contrast between older fabric and later additions.

Construction began in 1916 from a design prepared in 1912 by Hugon Kudera; the church was consecrated in 1933, yet the project remained unfinished when war came. During the Warsaw Uprising, it became a hospital for insurgents. A German air raid destroyed the church and buried wounded people beneath the wreckage.

After Warsaw’s liberation, the ruins received only basic protection, and worship continued in the damaged building for years. In the early 1970s, the former front façade was removed before reconstruction and enlargement began. The rebuilding team included Tomasz Turczynowicz, Hugon Kuder, Anna Bielecka, and Piotr Walkowiak. The scheme retained a prewar tower and colonnade within the new structure, and work concluded in 1983 under the church’s present dedication.