Driving north from Konin, you can see the colossal silhouette of the basilica from miles away. Its shimmering golden dome looms large. The basilica in Licheń is the largest temple in Poland and the sixth largest in the world in terms of area. It’s a unique place, attracting both thousands of pilgrims and equally large crowds of tourists every year.
Place of Miracles
During the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, a soldier named Tomasz Kłossowski was seriously wounded. Then the Mother of God is said to have appeared to the man, commanding him to find her image and place it in a public place. The soldier returned from the war, settled near Licheń, and spent 23 years searching for this image. He eventually found it near Częstochowa, and with the owner’s consent, took it and hung it on a tree. In 1852, the image was moved to a chapel in Licheń, later to St. Dorothy’s Church, where it hung for the next 150 years.
Monumental Basilica
The basilica is monumental – it has five naves and a massive dome. The church is abundant in symbolism. It’s to be entered by 33 steps (the number of years Christ lived on earth), has 365 windows (the number of days in a year), 52 doors (the number of weeks in a year), and 12 columns (referring to the number of apostles). In the bell tower adjacent to the basilica hangs the “Maryja Bogurodzica” bell – the largest bell in Poland. The basilica is a very eclectic structure, deriving quite unrestrainedly from various architectural styles. Its gold-colored decorations make it visible from miles away.
Next to the temple, a massive 141-meter-high tower soars. It has observation terraces at its top, with views of over 30 kilometers stretching on a clear day. You can get there by elevator or stairs.