The distinctive Church of St. John of Jerusalem, near the Śródka Roundabout in the right bank part of Poznań, is the main temple of the Knights of Malta. Mieszko III the Old set up a hospice for the sick in a small church here in the early middle ages. The Knights of Malta were granted the building in 1187 – and so the settlement of Komandoria (which means Commandry) came into being. The Knights Hospitaller order was created in Jerusalem c. 1130 during the Crusades. The Knights settled on the Mediterranean island of Malta in 1530 and so came to be commonly known as the Knights of Malta. The Church was named St. John of Jerusalem in 1237 and became the centre of a parish that took in Rataje and Żegrze as well.
The new proprietors also built a residence for their superior commander, the first of whom was Teodoryk, who held office during the reign of Przemysł I. The commanders of the order were appointed by the king as of the 15th century. This office was sometimes even a special reward from the monarch. A new superior commander would sometimes only join the order after taking up the position. All commanders served as canons of Poznań and, from the 16th century, were ceremonially inducted in the cathedral.
The last commander of the Knights of Malta in Poznań was Andrzej Marcin Bończa Miaskowski, who died in 1832. The goods of the monastery were expropriated by the state in accordance with Prussian law regarding the dissolution of convents. The Poznań commandry suffered the same fate; the provost and parishioners barely managed to save the church from demolition.
The Knights of Malta only returned to Poznań when Poland regained its independence. The Church of St. John of Jerusalem was renovated after the creation of the Polish Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and continues to function as the main Polish temple of the Polish Knights of this order. The provost of the parish is the canon of the Collegiate Cathedral.
