left from the main entrance), constructed by his father in the Gothic style in 1474. In 1604, the coffin was elevated from the crypt to the altar and in 1636 moved to the dedicated Chapel of Saint Casimir. The present-day sarcophagus was made in 1747 under the last will of Bishop of Warmia Christopher Johan Szembek (1680–1740). It is made of linden wood and covered with silver plates; its corners are decorated with gilded eagles. The sarcophagus was removed from the cathedral on three occasions. In 1655, before the Battle of Vilnius during the Deluge, the relics were removed most likely by Jerzy Białłozor and hid by Cyprian Paweł Brzostowski and later by the Sapiehas in the Ruzhany Palace. They were returned to the devastated chapel in 1663. The relics were removed for a short time in 1702 during the Battle of Vilnius of the Great Northern War. In October 1952, the relics were quietly moved to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul by the order of Soviet authorities. The cathedral was turned into an art gallery. The relics returned to their place in 1989 when the cathedral was reconsecrated. After the rediscovery of the Catacombs of Rome in 1578, the cult of relics spread throughout Europe (see also catacomb saints) and the trend did not skip Casimir. The coffin of Casimir was opened in early 1602 and in August 1604. At the time, canon Gregorius Swiecicki testified that despite humidity the body was intact. But in 1667 there were only bones left; they were inventoried and placed into six cloth bags. Surviving written records indicate that the coffin was opened in 1664, 1667, 1677, 1690, 1736, 1838, 1878 (twice), and 1922. There are several recorded instances when Casimir's relics were gifted to prominent figures and societies: to musicians' confraternity at San Giorgio Maggiore, Naples in early 1650s, to King John III Sobieski and Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in October 1677, to the Sodality of Our Lady of the Jesuit academy in Mechelen and the Order of Malta in October 1690, to Queen Maria Josepha of Austria in February 1736, to Cistercian abbot Sztárek Lajos of in 1860. Many more relics of Casimir can be found in local churches. In particular, in 1838, two teeth and ten unspecified bones were removed from the coffin; the bones were cut into small pieces and distributed among