Not far from the Old Market Square. The earliest mention of the church dedicated to St. Matthew comes from 1470. Originally it was wooden. In 1595, St. Anna’s chapel was built, which was made of brick. In the brick basements of the church lie the founders and former owners of the city – the knightly Mielecki family from the Gryf coat of arms. The most outstanding of them were among the most important senators in Poland’s “Golden Age”. They lived in the times of the last kings from the Jagiellonian dynasty – Sigismund the Old and Sigismund II Augustus, and the first Polish elective rulers – Henry Valois and Stefan Batory. They were: Stanisław Mielecki (c. 1470-1532) – Castellan of Zawichost, Jan Mielecki (1501-1561) – Marshal of the Crown and Voivode of Podole, Sebastian Mielecki (d. 1574) – Castellan of Kraków, and Mikołaj Mielecki (c. 1539-1585) – Hetman of the Crown and Voivode of Podole. In the years 1670-1721 the foundation of the city co-owner Zbigniew Ossoliński church built a church in Baroque style. The altars derive from the second half of the 18th century. The surviving feature of the temple is dominated by late Baroque and Neoclassical objects: altars, sculptures and paintings. The church was rebuilt several times – the tower was added (1795) and a grand tin helmet with a lantern (1924). In this form, the temple has survived to our times and is the oldest surviving religious building in Mielec. At the same time it is one of the most valuable monuments of urban architecture. Above the main door of the temple is the knight coat of arms of the Ossoliński family – an Axe (in remembrance of efforts to build the church by “Toporczyk” Jerzy Zbigniew Ossoliński). In the first years of the 21st century, the interior was carefully renovated. In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI elevated the parish church to the rank of minor basilica. The temple is surrounded by a wall, built in the 18th century, with stations of the Passion of Christ.
