The city lies on the Warta river. It is the capital of Wielkopolska Voivodeship and the see of the Archdiocese of Poznań. It is an important point on the Piast Trail.
The Knights Hospitaller, later known as the Knights of Malta, were brought to the area now occupied by Poznań in 1178. They were given the task of caring for pilgrims, the elderly and the sick by building a hospital cum refuge. The Knights Hospitaller created one of Poland’s first commandries here and the church they built at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries is thought to be the oldest brick structure in Poland.
The building has three naves and a Gothic star vault. The high altar contains a late-Gothic triptych depicting Madonna and Child, St. John the Baptist and St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów, and there is an 18th-century benevolent wooden crucifix in the side chapel altar. There is a legend that blood appears in Christ’s wounds in times of impending calamity.
The Gothic baptismal font from 1522 and the mid-17th-century pulpit are also of interest. The last Commander of the Knights of Malta, Andrzej Bończa Miaskowski, lies buried in an inaccessible crypt under the chapel. The Romanesque portal is worth more than a cursory glance as one of its two decorative columns was left upside down while being renovated!
The main office of the Knights of Malta, which was reactivated in the 1990s, is next to the church.
Address:
ul. Świetojańska 1 - Komandoria
61-113 Poznań
Tel. +48 61 877 17 17
