To see the inscription, you have to examine the northern façade of the Bolesławiec basilica closely. Three letters were carved into the stone beside a window – CIH – along with the date 1776.
It is not known who was behind these initials. It is known, however, that major renovation work was carried out at the church in 1776, including repairs to the damaged roof. The following year, the tower’s cupola was also renovated.
One of the most likely hypotheses is therefore that the inscription was left by one of the craftsmen working at the church. Scaffolding made it possible to reach a place that would normally be difficult to access, high above the ground.
Today, the inscription can be regarded as an extraordinary quarter-millennium-old memento of Bolesławiec’s former residents – and perhaps also one of the oldest surviving examples of local “graffiti”.