LOCATION
Kołbacz is a small, little-known town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, located about 30 km from Szczecin, near a large lake Miedwie. This is a monastery complex of Cistercians from the 13th-16th centuries. The oldest Cistercian abbey in Pomerania.
photo source: wikimedia commons.
ATTRACTIONS
One of the most valuable monuments of Brick Gothic architecture in Western Pomerania. The Cistercians came to Kołbacz at the invitation of Warcisław II Świętoborzyca from the princely Griffin family in 1173 from Esrum, in the north of the Danish island of Zeeland, from the monastery of the subsidiary Clairvaux abbey. The construction of the temple, originally three-nave, was begun in 1210, still in the late Romanesque style, and completed after more than 130 years, in 1347 in the Gothic style. In the 14th century, the abbey in Kołbacz was a thriving center of religious and economic life, along the whole Pomerania. Today, the complex is located on the Cistercian Route and the Roman Road. The Cistercians lived according to the rules of Saint. Benedict, expressed with the motto: ora et labora (pray and work). They kept on working their own hands – they cultivated cereals, raised animals, founded mills, ran a brewery, wine press, dairy, bakery and craft workshops. The Cistercians developed a pattern of a harmonious combination of prayer life and commitment to physical work.
INFORMATION SOURCES (links)
Heritage Class: [ C ]Cultural Heritage
Subclass [WH] :Waterfronts and traditional harbor areas
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