Białystok Cathedral

Neo-Gothic cathedral built around a much smaller 17th-century parish church

The Cathedral of the Assumption is a red-brick neo-Gothic basilica completed in 1905, with twin spires that are the tallest landmark on the central skyline. The small white baroque "old church" — built by the Branickis in 1626 — clings to its eastern wall, a strange and rather moving sight if you walk around to look.

Inside the new church is light, lofty, and decorated in a restrained late-19th-century style; the old church, much smaller, has the original family memorials. The two together are worth a short stop. Open daily outside Mass times.

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A story
When Białystok's Polish population outgrew the small baroque parish church in the late 19th century, the Russian imperial authorities forbade them from demolishing it and building a new one. The workaround was bold: a vast neo-Gothic cathedral was built around and adjoining the original, which still stands attached at the side as a chapel — same complex, two churches.

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