Church and monastery complex of the Dominican Fathers

One of the most beautiful shrines in Yaroslavl is the sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows. The beginning of the Marian cult in this place was the event of August 20, 1381, when shepherds found a figure of the Pieta on a pear tree. A spring flowed near the site, whose water was attributed to miraculous effects.

Initially, a wooden chapel was erected on the so-called "Hill of Piety," but this could not accommodate the pilgrims who were gathering in increasing numbers, and was also destroyed during the Tartar invasions. So in 1421 a spacious brick church in Gothic style was built, founded by Raphael Tarnowski. In 1629 Duchess Anna Ostrogskaya gave the temple to the Jesuits, while her daughter, Anna Alojza Chodkiewiczowa, founded the monastery in later years. The body of the temple in 1696-1713 was rebuilt in the late Baroque style. In 1755 the ceremonial coronation of the Pieta of Yaroslavl with papal crowns obtained from Pope Clement XII took place.

In 1773, the church and the Jesuit college were suppressed, while in 1777 the building was put under the care of the Dominican Fathers who came from Bochnia, whose monastery had burned down.

The great riches of the temple are the polychromes made by Rossi, Stroinski
and Swach. The main altar houses the miraculous Pieta, attracting crowds of pilgrims.
The south arm of the transept houses the Altar of the Relics of the Saints, containing nearly 200 different relics. Also valuable is the 21-voice organ made by Rieger in 1896.

The temple was given the dignity of a basilica in 1966. On September 15, 2013, a ceremonial re-coronation of the Pieta took place in Jaroslaw Square.

Near the church is a brick chapel, the so-called "Well" of 1752, built at the place where the miraculous spring flows out.

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