Sanktuarium diecezjalne Świętego Wojciecha, biskupa i męczennika w Świętym Gaju
Diocesan Sanctuary of Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr in Święty Gaj

Summary/Abstract: In 997, a group of missionaries led by the Czech bishop Adalbert set out on an evangelising journey to Prussia. This mission ended with Adalbert’s martyrdom (23 April 997). It happened near Heiligenwalde (Święty Gaj), on the site of the Prussian fortress of Cholinum. The village of Heiligenwalde was founded on 17 April 1324 by Luther of Brunswick, the Teutonic Order Comtur of Christburg (Dzierzgon). The first chapel was built on this site between 1299 and 1324 and rebuilt at the end of the 14th century. In the 16th century, the church was taken over by the Protestants in the course of the Reformation. In 1861, the church burned down as a result of a lightning strike. The lower parts of the wall and thegranite baptismal font have been preserved. In 1864 – 1865, the church was rebuilt on the old foundations and given a neo-Gothic style. A brick tower was erected, a three-sided presbytery was added and the west gable and the gable of the vestry were rebuilt. These works were directed by Edward Anderson (†1872), a pastor from Königlich Blumenau (Kwietniewo). The new church was consecrated on 29 October 1865. After the Second World War thechurch was taken over by the Catholic parish, which then belonged to the Diocese of Warmia (Ermland) and since 1992 to the Diocese of Elbląg. The article describes the history of the church and the sanctuary in Heiligenwalde, its architecture, its furnishings, and the buildings recently erected on its grounds: the field altar and the pilgrims’ house. The year 2021 marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the diocesan shrine of the Holy Bishop and Martyr Adalbert in Heiligenwalde.

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