Holy Cross Church: The Resting Place of Chopin's Heart

Why is it significant?

Walk up the wide stone stairs of the Church of the Holy Cross, past the expressive bronze statue of Christ carrying the Cross on his back. Step into the sun-drenched interior of the basilica and proceed down the left nave to the second pillar, carved in polished white marble.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Walk up the wide stone stairs of the Church of the Holy Cross, past the expressive bronze statue of Christ carrying the Cross on his back. Step into the sun-drenched interior of the basilica and proceed down the left nave to the second pillar, carved in polished white marble.

Frédéric Chopin died in exile in Paris in eighteen forty-nine at the age of thirty-nine. Terrified of being buried alive, he whispered on his deathbed: As this cough will choke me, take out my heart so I will not be buried alive, and take it back to Poland. His sister Ludwika smuggled his heart across the Russian imperial border hidden in a crystal jar filled with French cognac.

In eighteen seventy-nine, the urn was immured forever in this pillar beneath the biblical inscription from the Gospel of Matthew: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Walk across the street through the university grounds toward the nearby Saxon Garden.