Amazing abbey in Lubiaz - Poland

Submitted by Nomad on Sun, 08/28/2011 - 19:32

Location

Cistercian abbey in Poland. 51° 15' 42.228" N, 16° 28' 8.652" E

In a small village north-east of Legnica in Poland a huge baroque building emerges from the rural landscape. It’s the largest Cistercian abbey in Europe located in Lubiaz – with work in progress to reverse the decay over the past centuries.

Lubiaz - Cistercian abbey in Poland

It’s huge historic building in a rural setting – to grasp its size takes quite a while. It has the same appearance of buildings in Versailles – Paris.

Cistercian Abbey in Lubiaz - Wolow county - Lower Silesian - Poland

In fact it’s the largest Cistercian abbey in Europe now being preserved by the Polish Lubiaz foundation. The building in it’s current shape dates back to century long construction starting in the middle of the 17th century. It was a time of great wealth – the Cistercian community flourished in Poland.

Lubiaz – polish rural village

Lubiaz is located on one of the oldest crossings over the river Oder – and dates back far back to at least 1100 a.d. The Lubiaz Abbey was founded in 1175 by Germans who came from Pforta Abbey (1137-1540), near Naumburg in Germany.

Map of Lubiaz - Wolow county - Lower Silesian - Poland

In present time Lubiaz is dominated by the Cistercian abbey and part of a busy TIR trucking route over Polands narrowand battered provincial roads.

Lubiaz Cistercian abbey tour

The Lubiaz Foundation has renovated 2 halls in the 350 room building and is open for guided tours. No picture taking from the inside are allowed – unfortunately.

Cistercian Abbey in Lubiaz - Wolow county - Lower Silesian - Poland

Around the abbey there’s enough parking space – also for RV’s, motorhomes and campervans. Mind the large amount of mosquito’s in the evening!

One of the entrances of the Cistercian Abbey in Lubiaz - Wolow county - Lower Silesian - Poland

Large parts of the Abbey are in desperate need of renovation – though the roof of the main buildings already have been saved and reconstructed.


Restoration of the Abbey takes a lot of effort and time - so many windows like this

In the past the Abbey has been used by many occupants since 1740 – the end of the Cistercian era in Lubiaz. From 1823 the building was converted into a hospital for mentally ill patients from aristocratic families.

During World War II it was used by the Nazi’s and housed a forced labor camp for war time production. During this time the building suffered huge damage. In the years 1945 - 1948 the building was a Soviet Army hospital.

Rear side of the Cistercian Abbey in Lubiaz - Wolow county - Lower Silesian - Poland

Rear side of the Cistercian Abbey in Lubiaz - Our truck dwarfed on the right

From 1950, the huge complex was practically deserted and falling into decay. Part of the building was used by the National Museum in Wroclaw as a book storage facility.

In 1962 the first attempts were made to save the building from which the Lubiaz Foundation emerged.