St Bridget's Church

Set immediately behind St Catherine's is St Bridget's Church. Founded 700 years ago, the building was almost completely destroyed in 1945, and until 1970 only the walls were left standing. There's almost nothing left of the prewar furnishings within, but amber fans will be interested in seeing the spectacular 174cm-high amber monstrance depicting the tree of life and the monumental high altar, a recent construction, which comprises a record-breaking 6500kg of the stuff.

Lech Wałęsa attended Mass here when he was an unknown electrician in the nearby shipyard. With the wave of strikes in 1980 the church became a strong supporter of the dockyard workers and its priest, Henryk Jankowski, took every opportunity to express their views in his sermons. The church remains a record of the Solidarity period, with several contemporary craftworks related to the trade union and to modern Polish history in general. You'll find the tombstone of murdered priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, the Katyń epitaph, a collection of crosses from the 1980 and '88 strikes, and a door covered with bas-reliefs of scenes from Solidarity's history - all in the right-hand (northern) aisle.