Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist

This guide to the Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw starts with a jagged scrap of metal mortared into its outer wall, wreckage from a remote-controlled German mine driven into the nave during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. It follows the cathedral's six centuries of coronations and a 1791 oath to Europe's first written constitution, then the demolition squads who reduced most of it to rubble after the uprising collapsed. Architect Jan Zachwatowicz later turned to an old engraving and a Dutch traveler's sketch to guide its rebuilding.