Following the establishment of the
Franciscan Order in 1209, its members began arriving in Poland in the early 13th century, including in the
Subcarpathian region, with a presence in
Przemyśl by 1237.
Sanok became the second location in the region for their settlement. The Franciscan Church and monastery were founded on 27 February 1377, under a privilege issued by Duke
Vladislaus II of Opole, then the governor of
Red Ruthenia. The duke instructed the Archbishop of
Lviv, Maciej, and the Sanok
burgrave, also named Maciej, to endow the Franciscans with a manor and construct a church outside the city walls. Construction occurred between 1372 and 1376, resulting in the erection of the , which was assigned to the Minorite Franciscans from Lviv. This church was located near the present-day
Tadeusz Kościuszko Street, close to , in the area now known as . The organization of the church and diocese was overseen by . The initial church and monastery buildings were wooden and located outside the city walls, now part of the district. The church's erection act and donation are dated 5 July 1384. The new church was dedicated to the Finding of the Holy Cross. In 1384, the rector of the Church of St. Michael attempted to seize the monastery, but Queen
Elizabeth of Bosnia, wife of Louis I and mother of Queen
Jadwiga of Poland, ordered the
starosta, council, and citizens to protect the Franciscans, who were moved inside the city. In 1387, Chartman Ghyr, a cleric and public notary, reaffirmed in
Krosno the documents approved by Duke Vladislaus II and Queen Elizabeth in the presence of Bishop . Over the centuries, Sanok suffered multiple fires (1457, 1470, 1514, 1566), with the church surviving the 1566 fire. A fire in 1604, caused by
Tatars, destroyed the church. Later, the church's title changed from the Finding of the Holy Cross to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (celebrated on 14 September), reportedly after the
Second Vatican Council. Another fire in 1632 destroyed the church and monastery. Between 1632 and 1640, a reconstruction using quarried stone established the current form of the complex. During this period, new wooden monastery buildings were erected, and from 1717, they were replaced with a uniform brick structure. Additional wings of the monastery quadrangle were built between 1722 and 1747 and between 1758 and 1775. Further fires occurred in 1676 and 1743. In 1766, the Brotherhood of St. Ivo was established. until 19 December 1886, when the was established (during that period, the guardians of the monastery simultaneously held the office of parish priest). During the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, the authorities under
Joseph II repurposed part of the monastery as a prison (due to the lack of a city jail) and a county court, confiscating some church property. On the night of 9–10 May 1872, a devastating damaged the church, destroying nearly a third of the city. Reconstruction followed, with the vaults and roof rebuilt, but the church lost its Baroque style, including the tower's Baroque helmet and a domed side chapel. Painter Tabiński from
Rzeszów decorated the church interior, with his work preserved until 1935. Reconstruction was completed in 1886, The Baroque vault was lowered, windows were bricked up, nearly doubling its height. Previously, the tower had a domed shape. In 1896, a small turret for the sanctus bell was added. Further restorations occurred in 1905, when two tower stories and a new helmet were constructed. On 18 May 1914, a landslide affected the hill on which the church stands. In 1920, the church's chapels were raised. • Above the chapel of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a fresco titled
St. Francis Sending Monks into the World features local figures, including Antoni Jędrzejowski, Br. Michał Czyż, and Br. Metody Wojcieszek, with an
Assisi-like view resembling Sanok's panorama. • The second painting, placed on the arch connecting the main nave with the
chancel, depicts a scene of homage and worship offered by representatives of various social classes to the Mother of God. Among those worshipping are also the townspeople, including W. Lisowski himself (a kneeling figure dressed in a
kersey), his daughters Maria and Helena Nehring with a child in arms (the future doctor Jerzy Nehring), lawyer Kazimierz Lisowski from Brzozów, the craftsman Antoni Borczyk (wearing a
Czamara) living by the church along with his family (his daughters), the mayor of Sanok, , painted in noble attire, and the guardian of the Sanok convent, Father Teofil Bazan. In 1898, Sanok painter Włodarski created paintings in the
church porch, including a depiction of St. Francis in prayer and the Polish emblem on the ceiling. In the late 1930s, engineer advised on renovations, including plastering the church facade facing the Market Square and retaining "
rustic stone" on the chancel's eastern garden side. In the 19th century, the monastery buildings were listed under number 16 in the city. On 16 September 1889, Father was found guilty of ecclesiastical offenses and sentenced to lose his parish in Kulików and undergo six weeks of retreat at the Sanok monastery. In the early years of the
Second Polish Republic, from 1921 to 1923, the monastery housed a Minor Franciscan Seminary. Until the early 1930s, the Sanok monastery, like other Franciscan convents in the Subcarpathian region, was under the , before being transferred to the . In 1931, the Franciscan convent owned property at 30 (originally conscription number 998). During
World War II under the
German occupation, and for a year after the war, the monastery housed the Polish Commercial School (
Polnische Öffentliche Handelsschule). After the
Eastern Front passed in 1944, the complex's roofing was damaged and repaired by Kazimierz Niemiec. In 1950, the state nationalized the Franciscans' 34-hectare farm at 10 Zagrody Street, leaving them with approximately 2 hectares. In 1973, part of the remaining land was purchased by the state, where a high school was built, and Franciscans served as catechists there until 1984. A public chapel, later the
Chapel of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, was established on the remaining land and transferred to the Przemyśl diocese in 1984. However, from 1950, its graduates were barred from further education at the state-run Sanok Gymnasium. On 3 July 1952, the seminary was shut down by communist authorities, who also seized part of the monastery, later reclaimed by the Franciscans. In 1954, relics of the Holy Cross and the icon of Our Lady of Grace were transferred from the nearby Greek Catholic cathedral, which had been unused since
Operation Vistula in 1947. On 3 May 1956, the
Secretariat of the Polish Episcopal Conference designated the church's second title as Our Lady of Consolation, In 1972, the Franciscan complex, including the church, monastery, a mid-19th-century barn with a stone and wooden treadmill, and an 18th/19th-century monastery fence, was added to Sanok's updated register of monuments. In 1948, a new armored tabernacle, crafted by Karol Baranowicz, replaced the previous wooden one. Between 1998 and 1999, archaeological and conservation work uncovered a medieval cemetery and 14th-century walls. From 2000 to 2003, conservation and renovation continued, restoring the altars and paintings of St. Anthony of Padua (by October 2001) and Our Lady of Consolation. The complex (church, monastery, and fence) is listed in the provincial (1967) and municipal registers of Sanok monuments. In 1978, the Sanok branch of the
Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society's Monument Preservation Committee placed a plaque on the facade noting the building's historic status. In 2019, construction began to stabilize the escarpment due to numerous cracks in the church buildings. == Architecture ==