St. Casimir Church (Warsaw)

St. Casimir Church was originally the Kotowski Palace, residence of the Wyszogród stolnik, Adam Kotowski. In 1688 it was purchased by Queen Marie Casimire, the consort of John III Sobieski, to be transformed into a church to serve the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament, whom she had brought to Poland. In 1718 the church furnishing was completed with a profuse late baroque pulpit in the shape of a flower and between 1745 and 1748 with a rococo organ. During a single raid on August 31, 1944, four priests, 35 nuns and over a thousand civilians sheltering in the church's crypt were killed. ==Interior==

Designed by Tylman Gamerski, the church consists of a large dome atop a basic Greek cross design. The facade is baroque, although the interior is completely modern, because very few of the original furnishings of the church were preserved. Inside, the most valuable element of the original church's decoration are the preserved fragments of a brilliant tomb monument of Maria Karolina Sobieska de Bouillon carved by Lorenzo Mattielli in white and black marble in 1746. The effigy of the founder in an oval frame was placed atop the plinth with the Janina coat of arms and a royal crown. The whole composition was completed with carved statues of the personification of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and a putto, while the arcade above was adorned with skulls. The tombstone was reconstructed in 1961 by Antoni Szymanowski. ==Charlotte, Duchess of Boullion's Monument==

File:Tombstone of Karolina Sobieska de Bouillon.JPG|19th-century engraving File:Narobek Charlotty de Boullion.jpg|Overview File:Księżna de Boullion - Płaskorzeźba.jpg|Charlotte's bust ==Photos==

File:Ruins_of_St_Casimir_Church.jpg|The ruins of St. Casimir Church near the end of World War II File:VarsaviaPiazzaMercatoCittàNuovaLatoEst.jpg|The church from the New Town square ==See also==