St. Mary's Church, Gdansk

St. Mary's Church is one of the largest brick Gothic churches in the world, capable of holding 25,000 people inside its vast nave. The scale is overwhelming: the ceiling vaults soar 29 metres above the floor, and the interior is a world of its own once your eyes adjust to the filtered light. The church was built between 1343 and 1502 and has accumulated chapels, altarpieces, and memorials across seven centuries.

The astronomical clock on the north transept wall is the most discussed object inside. Climbing the church tower — 405 steps — gives an unrivalled view over the copper rooftops of the Old Town and across the Motlawa River. The approach through the narrow lanes below the church is itself one of the best walks in Gdansk.

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A story
St. Mary's was damaged in 1945 and its renowned 15th-century astronomical clock — capable of displaying the day, month, year, phase of the moon, and position of the sun and moon in the zodiac — was looted during the Soviet occupation and ended up in a museum in St. Petersburg. A replica was installed in the church in 2019, but the original remains in Russia.