Pauline monks from Hungary founded the monastery in 1382 at the invitation of Vladislaus II of Opole. It was entrusted with the icon known as the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. The church was originally a single nave. Around 1463 it was enlarged into a three-nave Gothic hall church. The article names no architect and gives no dimensions or materials.
The Hussites sacked the monastery on April 14, 1430. The Swedish army besieged it unsuccessfully in 1655, though the article does not describe its fortifications. From 1690 to 1693 the church was reconstructed in the Baroque style. From 1693 to 1696 the nave and chancel walls were raised, changing the church from a hall to a basilica.
The article lists public access. Large crowds of pilgrims and tourists visit, silence is expected inside, and pilgrims approaching the icon kneel and move across the front of the shrine on their knees.
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