Ark of Lord Church

The Ark of the Lord received its name thanks to its characteristic shape, proposed by Wojciech Pietrzyk, who followed the example of Le Corbusier's Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp. Construction in Nowa Huta began in 1967, yet Cardinal Karol Wojtyła did not consecrate the church until 1977. Thus, after a great effort lasting nearly 30 years since the construction of the city began, what was planned as the atheist city of Nowa Huta lived to have its own church.

Thanks to its shape, the church is one of the best recognised sites in the district. Its interior is as extraordinary as its external appearance, and it is dominated by the 8-metre-high (27 feet) crucifix by Bronisław Chromy. As the construction of the church became a symbol of unity of the Christian world, many elements of its furnishing were donated by Catholics from different parts of the globe... and even beyond, as the crystal of rutile (titania) mounted in the Tabernacle was brought from the Moon to Earth by the astronauts from Apollo 11.

Masses for the Fatherland held in the Ark of the Lord were celebrated on the 13th of each month during Martial Law, that is from 13th December 1981 to 22nd July 1983. They were followed by demonstrations against the breaching of civil rights by the authorities, the internment of Solidarity activists, and the repression of political opponents. Most of them were suppressed by force. The best-known victim of these disturbances is Bogdan Włosik, a 19-year-old secondary school student working at Lenin Steelworks. Standing opposite the church is the monument that commemorates the place were Włosik was shot by an agent of the security services in 1982.