Although having a long history, including the site of coronations and royal weddings, the cathedral was completely destroyed in WWII. In fact, major fighting took place even in the interior of the church and the Germans smashed a tank into the building during one battle and planted charges to level all the walls. One of the interesting attractions in the cathedral is a statue that was one of the few recovered from the church after bombing during the war. Like most of Warsaw, the church as rebuilt after the war, in basic Gothic style, with a rather simple interior.