The Stone Bear on Swietojanska

Warszawa · Poland · Urban site

The bear in front of the Jesuit church is a petrified prince. The right woman's love breaks the spell; so far nobody has managed it.

On Swietojanska, in front of the church of Our Lady of Grace, lies a stone animal that Varsovians call the bear. The legend makes it a prince of Mazovia: tall, powerfully built and known for his kindness, but with a face like a bear's, which left him too shy ever to speak to a woman. During mass in the Jesuit church he saw the girl he had waited for all his life, and saw in the same instant that she already belonged to another. His heart stopped with grief and he turned to stone on the spot. There he lies still, waiting for the love that will break the spell. Art historians keep insisting that the sculpture, cut by Jan Jerzy Plersch in the eighteenth century, is in fact a lioness; the tail gives it away.

FAQ

Where is The Stone Bear on Swietojanska located?

The Stone Bear on Swietojanska is in Warszawa, Poland.

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