Poznań Parish Church, or more precisely Collegiate Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Stanislaus the Bishop in Poznan is one of the most valuable Baroque monuments in Poland. Construction of the temple, belonging to the Jesuits, began in 1651 and lasted over 50 years. The building simply overwhelms with decorations, grandeur, and space. The length of the church is 55 m, width - 34 m, height of the main nave - 27 m, height of the main nave in the dome - 28.5 m, height of the choir - 8 m, and the interior area of the church is 1970 m2.
It is famous for its 19th-century organs, which are one of the most valuable elements of the interior. They were made in 1876 by one of the best organ-builders of those times. They cost nearly 24 000 marks, half of which were donated by an anonymous donor from Poznań.
It consists of over 2.5 thousand pipes, the longest of which are over 6 meters long. Outside the building one can see a richly decorated pink façade with double white pilasters, which is bordered on both sides by two low towers, not protruding above the body of the church, topped with copper helmets, between which there is a gable with side gables characteristic for the Baroque period.
The façade and the towers are divided into tiers by cornices. Above the rich Baroque portal is a niche with a statue of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the order, holding a burning heart in his hand, and an eagle at his feet. Below it there is a medallion with a Latin inscription: Domus Domini Porta Coeli. On both sides, there are smaller niches with the images of St. Adalbert and St. Stanislaus Kostka on the left and St. Stanislaus the Bishop. Above, there are two more statues of saints: St. Francis Borgia and St. Francis Xavier.
Entering the temple we see the main altar of St. Stanislaus the Bishop and St. Stanislaus Kostka which was designed by Pompeo Ferrari. It is 17 meters high and 10 meters wide. In the center, there is a painting by Szymon Czechowicz from 1756 showing St. Stanislaus the Bishop resurrecting Peter. The whole altar is crowned with the allegory of Faith, a woman with a cross, a woman with an anchor, and the allegory of the Assumption of St Stanislaus Kostka.
The huge columns, which reflect the size of the parish church, seem to be made of marble; however, they are only an imitation of marble, which thanks to its connection with the transept it forms one big hall.
The vault of the main nave is filled with paintings by Karol Dankwart from the 18th century. To a large extent, they describe the life of the church patron - St. Stanislaus the Bishop. Among them, we can find successively depicted the fate of the saint until his martyrdom and welcome in heaven. This very moment is shown in the central point of the vault - at the junction of the main and transverse naves.
There is a pseudo-dome with a depth of 1.5 m with a painting by Stanisław Wróblewski from 1949. Its interior together with the painted lantern is obtained by means of paintings that give the illusion of a semicircular bowl. The walls of the nave are filled with paintings on biblical themes, by Karol Dankwart.
Under the whole length of the temple, there are vaults, where wine was stored in the twentieth century, because there was a suitable microclimate. During research work in the 1990s, a fragment of the inner wall of the medieval city fortifications was discovered there. Every Saturday at 12:15, the Poznan Fara hosts "Farne Concerts", during which you can hear the delightful sound of the organ.
