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The Holy Cross Church, designed by Italian architect Bellotti, was built between 1679 and 1696 on the place where once a wooden church stood. The present Baroque facade with two twin towers was begun in the first half of the 18th century to design by Josef Fontana and completed by Jacob Fontana. The stairs are decorated with the statue of Christ Carrying the Cross that was established in 1858. The interior of the church is absolutely white except for the golden altar, standing out against such a background. The church was severely damaged during the World War II. For two weeks fierce fighting of Warsaw Uprising took place in the church itself. By now the church has been totally restored and the visitors can even admire some original altarpieces that survived after the World War II.
The Church is especially dear to citizens as the place where the heart of Frederic Chopin is buried. Chopin was born in Poland, in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw. At the age of 21, he left Poland for Paris, where he reached a great success and gained his reputation of a great composer and a brilliant pianist. Chopin traveled a lot and lived in different countries, but he always remembered that he had only one native land, which was Poland. He deeply loved his country and according to the legend, all his life Chopin carried with him a lock of Sand's hair and an urn with Polish soil. Like lives of many geniuses, his bright life was broken off early when he died from tuberculosis at the age of 39. According to his wish, his body was buried in Paris in Pere Lachaise Cemetery and his heart at last returned to Warsaw. The urn was interred in a pillar beneath the memorable plaque. It should be mentioned that the plaque with the bust of Chopin for a long time was the only memorial to Chopin. And only 25 years later the grand monument to the composer was established in the Lazienki Park. Twice a year, on the days of the great composer's birth and death, special solemn ceremonies are held in the church.
Everybody knows that the heart of Chopin is in the church, but few know that there is one more heart interred in one of the pillars - of an outstanding Polish writer and novelist Wladyslaw Reymont (1867-1925). In his books he masterfully depicted the life of Poland in the last quarter of the 19th century. For his four-volume epic novel "The Peasants" Wladyslaw Reymont was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1924. His body was buried in the Powazki Cemetery.
