Włocławek - Kościół św. Witalisa

In the 11th century a settlement existed on the Vistula River, which since 1123 has been the seat of a bishopric subordinate to the Archbishop of Gniezno, and in 1261 received town rights. At that time the town's name was Leslau. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the town was destroyed and subjugated several times by Teutonic Knights. Only the Peace Treaty of Thorn in 1466 finally secured peace.

After that, the grain trade flourished until the Swedish invasion in 1657 partially destroyed the town.

After the Second Partition of Poland, Włocławek fell to Prussia in 1793, and after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the town became part of the newly formed Congress Poland, which belonged to Russia.

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St. Vitalis Church was founded by bishop Maciej of Gołańcza in 1330, just after Włocławek was demolished and the former cathedral was burned down by the Teutonic Knights in 1329. Until 1411 it served as a temporary cathedral. Afterward, it was given to the St. Vitalis Hospital. Together with the hospital, the church was maintained by the cathedral capitulary, who had no interest and so the church deteriorated. As early as the 15th century it was completely ruined

A century later in the years 1534-1544, canon Tobiasz Janikowski renovated the whole church at his own expense. The seminary, which was founded in 1569, took over some of the hospital buildings and the church of St. Vitalis. The church, however, stood separately, at a distance from the seminary buildings.

In 1843, a new seminary pavilion was built and the church of St. Vitalis was incorporated into it.