Europe's tallest Mary statue consecrated in Konotopie, funded by billionaire Karkosik and called 'king kong' by a Dominican friar

A village landmark takes shape

In the small settlement of Konotopie, about 40 km from Toruń in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodeship, a 55.6-meter monument of Our Lady of Mercy (Matka Boża Miłoserna) has been completed and is scheduled for consecration on 15 August 2026, the Feast of the Assumption. The structure consists of a 40.6-meter figure resting on a 15-meter crown that serves as its base. Construction began in March 2025 and quickly became a topic of nationwide discussion, drawing tourists and pilgrims to the site even before the official ceremony. Cars stop along the road as visitors photograph the towering figure, and some travellers arrived by chance, spotting it from passing highways.

The project was funded by Roman and Grażyna Karkosik as a votive offering of gratitude for recovery of health. Roman Karkosik is the owner of the Boryszew Group, a company long associated with the Borygo coolant brand and today producing steel, forged products and automotive chemicals. The unofficial cost is about 100 million PLN, according to Interia. The sculptor is Adam Jakub Matejkowski, with co-designer Aleksander Skórski. This is not the Karkosiks' first investment in Konotopie: in 2010 they funded the nearby Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows, built on the site of a 1948 chapel.

Taller than Rio and Świebodzin

The monument surpasses several well-known religious statues. Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro measures 38 meters with its pedestal, and Christ the King in Świebodzin, inaugurated in 2010, stands at 52.5 meters with its mound. A Marian monument in Crato, northeastern Brazil, reaches 54 meters and was unveiled in November 2025 before about 40,000 people, according to official data. In Indonesia's North Sumatra province, a 61-meter Jesus statue has stood since 2014. The Konotopie figure is described as the tallest Mary monument in Europe.

A viewing terrace and free entry

The 15-meter crown base houses a viewing terrace accessible by an elevator mounted inside the monument. Organisers say both entry to the interior and use of the terrace will be free of charge. From the top, visitors can view the panorama of the Ziemia Dobrzyńska region. The monument is intended to serve not only a religious function but also as a tourist attraction, with some visitors suggesting it could stimulate local tourism. A German television crew was reported preparing a report on the site.

Clergy and scholarly criticism

Dominican friar Paweł Gużyński, asked about the project on Radio ZET, called the statue a "potworek" and offered a vivid comparison.

It's king kong in an open field.

He described it as "another example of religious eccentricity" after the Świebodzin statue, and said building such monuments reflects "magical thinking" and a "simplified theology." He argued that no one will be converted by such figures, even if that is what the creators most likely hope for. Professor Arkadiusz Stempin, a historian and Vatican expert at the Korczak University in Warsaw and the University of Freiburg, contributed reflections on the Polish cult of Mary and the phenomenon of religious kitsch, citing the theology of Richard Egenter, whose lectures were attended by the future Pope Benedict XVI, and who warned against the symbiosis of kitsch and religion.