Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Polish Church), one of the most beautiful buildings in the city of Irkutsk, located in the historic center of the city, on the street Sukhbaatar. The history of Irkutsk Catholic church began in 1819. The initiators of its construction were made by the monks of the Order of Bernardine, who arrived in Irkutsk and Tomsk on positions of Catholic priests. The temple was consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, built by the end of 1825

Initially, the temple is a beautiful one-story wooden structure that stood on the same spot where later was built a modern stone church. In 1879, during a violent fire burned almost the entire central part of Irkutsk, including the church. Soon we began to collect funds to build a new church.

Construction of the temple began in 1881. The project was made known Irkutsk architect Josef Tamulevich. Supervised construction work Pole - H. Shvemitsky. Cathedral turned out beautiful and well fit into the overall ensemble of the central city square. Near the church is a small chapel in the name of St. Innocent. The chapel was built in September 1868

Construction of the church ended in 1884. The ceremonial consecration of the church of the Dormition of the Mother of God took place in December 1884 Construction of facilities is fairly slow and completed only by the end of the 1890s. The main altar of the church was consecrated in the name of Our Lady of the Assumption. The side altars built in 1892 .: Left - with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and right - with a picture of St. Joseph.

With the advent of Soviet power for the church and the community as a whole came not the best of times. In 1921 the property was nationalized Catholic parish, including places of worship, and all are in their utensils. In 1938 the church finally closed, since its building was used by various agencies. In 1978 the building of the church installed concert organ. Today is a wonderful organ hall of the regional philharmonic society of the city of Irkutsk.

In 1998, local authorities have definitively refused to return the temple of the Catholic community. As a result, after the founding of St.. See of the Diocese of St. Joseph, the city was elevated to a new Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.