Poland unveils Europe’s tallest Virgin Mary statue, standing 55.6 metres high

Herz — World Desk · 16 August 2026 at 15:34 · 30s summary · 2 min read

What we know

A 55.6-metre (182-foot) statue of the Virgin Mary was unveiled on August 16, 2026, in Konotopie, central Poland. According to The Guardian, it is now the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in Europe.

Konotopie has fewer than 150 residents. The monument’s total height includes a 15-metre crown-shaped pedestal containing an observation platform that is open to visitors.

Local authorities hope the monument will become a pilgrimage site and tourist destination.

The consecration ceremony

Hundreds of people attended the consecration. Helicopters scattered miniature red roses over the crowd as priests in white vestments celebrated Mass.

Mazowsze — Poland’s national folk song and dance choir, ballet and orchestra — sang and danced during the ceremony.

Lech Wałęsa, 82, sat in the front row. The former leader of Solidarność — the Polish trade union federation founded in 1980 that played a central role in opposition to communist rule — is also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Poland.

I began with the Virgin Mary, and I am ending with the Virgin Mary.

— Lech Wałęsa, at the unveiling ceremony in Konotopie, August 16, 2026

Who commissioned the statue

The statue was commissioned and financed by Roman Karkosik, a wealthy Polish businessman whose fortune came partly from investments on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and his wife, Grażyna. The couple live in a small palace a few kilometres from Konotopie.

The Karkosiks said the monument was an expression of their gratitude to God.

How its height compares

The Konotopie monument is taller than two internationally known landmarks: Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, which measures 38 metres including its pedestal, and Poland’s Christ the King in Świebodzin, a 52.5-metre statue unveiled in 2010. It remains shorter than a 98-metre statue of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines.