Doors of Mercy

The first church on this site was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and probably dated to the 16th-17th centuries. A hospital was built nearby. In the 18th century the church was rebuilt. It received a new chancel, two towers and its gothic apse was replaced by a new portal. In 1821 the imperial authorities turned the civilian hospital into a military one and the church became an orthodox church, the temple of the Annunciation. In 1919 the Catholics regained the building. After the Second World War it was closed by the Soviets. In 2004 the church underwent renovation and was dedicated to the Divine Mercy. In 2005, the original image of Divine Mercy was transferred into this renovated church and installed over the centre of the altar and it became an international shrine to the mercy of God. The image was painted according to St. Faustina’s vision by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski in Vilnius, in 1934.