Incantato proudly presents the Belcanto performance venue for Friday, June 25, 7.15 pm: the Church of St. Anthony in Poznań. Here is some information about this special venue:The conventuals (black friars) settled in Poznań in the 17th century. The church was commissioned from Jan Koński and built atop Castle Hill (presently Przemysł Hill) in the years 1674-1757. The monastery was erected in the years 1672-1749 east of the church but it was partly dismantled after the suppression of the order in 1834; only the north part survived to the present day. In the 19th century the church was given to German Catholics by the Prussian authorities. The black friars returned in 1921. Heavily damaged in the war, the church was renovated in 1945. It is a basilica with the nave flanked by two aisles that stop at two chapels; there is also a chapel in the west aisle and a gallery over three bays in both aisles. The presbytery and the nave are covered with a barrel vault with lunettes, the aisles are groin vaulted whereas the chapel adjoining the west aisle is sail vaulted. Both chapels at the end of the aisles have domes with lanterns. The church is lavishly decorated with stucco-work and the polychrome decoration from around 1702 is the work of the Franciscan monk Adam Swach.
The nave is adjoined by two square chapels covered with domes and topped by lanterns. The Chapel of Mother of God was built in 1681 and it features the miraculous painting of Mother of God, Our Lady of Poznań. It is a copy of the miraculous painting from the Sanctuary of Our Mother of Consolation from Borek - Zdzież.
