FEATURES, ORIGINS, VALUES AND LEGAL PROTECTION
The Crypt of Merit at the Church of St. Wojciech in Poznan was founded in 1923 on the initiative of the then parish priest, Fr. Boguslaw Koscielski, like Skalka in Krakow. Then the remains of distinguished Poles began to be brought to the church. The sarcophagus Karol Marcinkowski, a 19th century physician and social activist, stands in the southern aisle in the church. The epitaphs can be read in the chapel of St. Anthony, of some of the people resting in the Crypt of Merit underneath the church. Among the ashes that have been placed there are those of Jozef Wybicki, the composer of the Polish national anthem, Antoni Kosinski, the co-founder of the Legions of Dabrowski, Heliodor Swiecicki, the founder and first rector of the University of Poznan, Feliks Nowowiejski, a composer and creator of the song Rota, Tadeusz Szeligowski , a composer, Pawel Edmund Strzelecki, an explorer of Australia and discoverer of the continent’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko and the heart of General Jan Henryk Dabrowski. There are also the remains of Ignatius Pradzynski, a General of the November Uprising, the Scoutmaster Florian Marciniak, the founder of the “Szare Szeregi” (Grey Ranks) and also a candidate for sainthood, the Servant of God Fr. Alexander Zychlinski. The grand opening of the new section of the crypt occurred on 15th June, 1997, as part of the Greater Poland bicentenary celebrations of the creation of the Polish national anthem, the Dabrowski’s Mazurka. Other famous residents of Poznan have been buried at the Greater Poland Cemetery of Merit, which is located next to the Church of Discalced Carmelites which stands opposite the Church of St. Wojciech.

TOUR ORGANISER
Parish of St. Wojciech
Wzgorze Sw. Wojciecha 1
61-748 Poznan
Tel 61 852-_69-85
Fax: 61 851-90-12
swwojciech@archpoznan.org.pl
http://www.swietywojciech.archpoznan.org.pl/

Church of St. Wojciech
Wzgorze Sw. Wojciecha 1
61-748 Poznan

Greater Poland Cemetery of Merit
Ul Dzialowa 25 (Church of St. Wojciech)
Tel: +48 61 851 90 12

ACCESSIBILITY OF FACILITIES BY VISITORS
Opening Hours:
Saturday, between 10.00 and 12.00
Sunday, between 13.00 and 16.00
Other visiting times may be arranged by phone.
Tour takes about 30 minutes.
The route is electrically illuminated.
The route is not suitable for people with physical disabilities.
Appropriate dress is recommended for places of worship.