St. Francis Xavier Cathedral (Farny Kastsyol)

The Farny Kastsyol — the parish church — is Hrodna's most spectacular building, a twin-towered Baroque Jesuit church that dominates the old town and is visible from most of the city centre. Construction began in 1667 and was completed in the 1720s; the interior retains its original Baroque decoration almost intact, with elaborate altars, frescoes, and carved wood throughout. The Jesuits were powerful in Hrodna during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth period, and the wealth that flowed through the city is reflected in the scale and quality of the decoration.

The cathedral faces onto the main square and is in active use as a Roman Catholic church. Services are held regularly and the congregation is predominantly Polish-speaking — Hrodna has the largest concentration of ethnic Poles in Belarus. The mechanical clock on the facade is a quirk worth noting: look for it above the main entrance.

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The cathedral's mechanical clock, mounted high on the facade, is said to be among the oldest working clocks in Europe — some accounts date it to the 15th century. It is driven by a system of weights and runs without electricity, keeping time by the same mechanism it has used for centuries. Given that the cathedral itself only dates from 1667, the clock was already old when the building was constructed around it.