The Church of the Finding of the Holy cross and the Bernardine monastery – the largest existing Catholic churches in Grodno. They built this architectural masterpiece gradually during the XVI-XVIII centuries, repeatedly rebuilt and rebuilt, so now is a mixture of styles Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. The Church is three-nave pillar Basilica. The monastic buildings adjoin closely to the Church, forming a single architectural complex with a closed courtyard.

Construction began on the wooden monastery in 1494 on land donated by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Yagellonchik the Bernardine order. In the second half of the XVI century the prosperity of the city of Grodno, when king Stefan Batory in fact, made it his capital. At this time the monastery grows and continues its construction.

When Sigismund III Vase in 1595 began construction of the Church of the Bernardine monastery. The Church was consecrated on 13 may 1618 Bishop Eustachian the Valovich. In 1660 built the chapel of Saint Barbara, covered by a roof, repaired the temple.

The Church preserved the authority of the XVII century. The interior is decorated in the XVII-XVIII century. In the niches of the temple are sculptures of the 12 apostles and 12 prominent figures of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Despite the fact that in Soviet times, the Church and the monastery were closed, they were perfectly preserved to our days. Now the building of the monastery is the Highest Roman Catholic Seminary, which trains Catholic priests.