Cistercian Abbey in Lubiąż

The Cistercian Abbey in Lubiąż is one of the largest monastic complexes in Europe and the largest Cistercian abbey in the world. It is called a masterpiece of Silesian Baroque, and its volume is three times greater than that of the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill.

From Benedictines to Cistercians

A monastery was first founded on this site in 1150, when Benedictine monks settled here; they left Lubiąż before 1163. That same year the Silesian duke Bolesław the Tall brought Cistercians here from Pforta on the Saale in Thuringia to take their place, and the foundation was confirmed in 1175. In the Middle Ages the abbey became one of the larger landowners in Silesia, and the monks wrote the Chronicle of the Polish Princes, the Lubiąż Annals and the Catalogue of the Bishops of Wrocław here.

Baroque rebuilding

The Hussite Wars and the Thirty Years' War brought destruction to the monastery buildings. From 1649 a major renovation in the Baroque style was underway. In 1660 Abbot Arnold Freiberger brought in the painter Michael Willmann, and his successors built the monumental abbot's palace with more than 300 rooms. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was rebuilt between 1672 and 1681, and in 1715 a facade with two towers crowned with Baroque cupolas was added to it.

Size of the complex

The roofs of the abbey alone cover about 2.5 hectares, the facade is 223 metres long, and the building has more than 600 windows. The complex includes the basilica, the abbots' palace, the monastery, the Church of St James, the gatehouse, the former hospital, the bakery, the brewery and the farm buildings.

Dissolution and post-war fate

In 1810 the Prussian king Frederick William III dissolved the order and took over its estates, and a hospital was set up in the monastery, from 1823 a psychiatric one. In 1945 soldiers of the Red Army, searching for hidden treasure, destroyed the coffins of the Silesian Piasts and scattered the mummies kept in the crypt, which made it impossible to later identify some of the remains. The military was stationed in the abbey until 1948, and in the 1980s the Security Service of the Polish People's Republic conducted searches here for supposed gold hidden by the Germans.

The Piast Crypt

The crypt beneath the Gothic basilica contains the tombs of the Silesian Piasts, including Bolesław the Tall, Władysław the Spindleshanks, Henry III of Głogów and Bolesław III the Wasteful, as well as the mummies of Cistercian abbots and monks. To this day 98 mummies survive in good condition.

The abbey today

Since 1989 the site has been owned by the Lubiąż Foundation, which carries out restoration work, including replacing the roofs. Since 1996 the Princes' Hall, covering more than 400 square metres, with ceiling paintings by Christian Bentum, has been open to visitors. The abbey hosts concerts of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival and exhibitions devoted to the history of Silesia.

In the surrounding area it is also worth seeing the Rachów Palace and the Claretian Monastery in Krzydlina Mała. Right by the Oder there is the Oder Viewpoint.

Practical information

• Address: Plac Klasztorny 1, Lubiąż.
• Getting there: Lubiąż lies in Wołów County in Lower Silesia, on the Oder.
• What to expect: a guided tour of the interiors, including the Princes' Hall, and a walk around the former monastic complex; check visiting hours before your visit.