St. Mary's Church
 
 address: ul Mariacka, Gdańsk
 tel./fax: +48 58 301 39 82
 site: www.bazylikamariacka.pl
The Arch-cathedral St. Mary's Church, often called »the crown of Gdańsk«, astonishes us with its enormity. Its huge walls and towers can be seen high above the city and its surroundings. It was constructed over the years 1243 – 1502. The nave is 105 metre long. Its roof is covered with over 8 thousand square metres of red ceramic roofing tiles. The vaulting is a true piece of art., there are net, star and crystal vaults stretching almost 30 m over the floor and supported by 27 pillars. The area of this church is over half a hectare big and can shelter over 25 thousand people. Inside this church we can admire, among others, an oak Gothic main altar dating back to 1510 – 1517, a root arch beam with the crucifixation. The four metre big figures representing the Christ, Mary and Saint John as well as 10 metre long cross were made in 1517. What is more, beside the vestry, there is a reconstruction of a well known astronomical clock dating back to 1464 – 1470, a piece of work made by H. Duringer from Toruń. This twelve metre big clock shows the time, phases of the moon as well as Zodiac signs. To the left of the main entrance we will see a lot of stairs leading to the top of a 78 metre high tower where, at a small fee, you can admire the view of Gdańsk.