Former Cistercian Abbey in Ląd

From the road along the Warta you first see two openwork towers and a huge dome – the Baroque crown of an abbey that in the 18th century was considered the oldest Cistercian monastery in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Behind this façade, though, lies something older and rarer: the Gothic Oratory of St James with paintings from around 1370, among the most valuable in Poland. Since 1 July 2009 the Ląd complex has been a Historic Monument of Poland, and since 1921 it has been run by the Salesian order.

History: monks from the Rhineland

Tradition dates the foundation to 1145, probably as a dependency of the abbey at Łekno; it became independent around 1175. After 1193, thanks to Duke Mieszko the Old, Cistercians from Altenberg near Cologne settled here, and until the 16th century the monks came from the Rhineland. The abbey grew rich quickly: around 1300 it owned 30 villages, and by 1500 it had 52 villages and 3 small towns. Only a parliamentary act of 1538 required the abbot to be Polish – the German monks refused to accept this and left for Henryków in Silesia.

The golden age came in the 18th century under Abbot Mikołaj Antoni Łukomski (1697–1750), known as the abbey's second founder. Rebuilding of the church began in 1651, and in 1728–1737 the Italian architect Pompeo Ferrari completed it with a central section topped by a 38-metre dome. The church was consecrated in 1743. The abbey was dissolved in 1819 and later housed Capuchins, and in 1939–1941 the Germans used the monastery as a transit camp for clergy. Among the 152 prisoners was Bishop Michał Kozal; most were deported to Dachau.

What to see

• The Oratory of St James – Gothic wall paintings from around 1370 with chivalric, apocalyptic and heraldic themes; they commemorate the benefactors, including Wierzbięta of Paniewice, the royal governor of Greater Poland.
• The dome with frescoes by Georg Wilhelm Neunhertz from 1733 – an allegory of the triumph of Divine Wisdom.
• The altar of St Ursula with relics brought from Altenberg as early as the 13th century, and the stucco tomb of Abbot Łukomski.
• The organ of 1734, built by the Cistercian Józef Koegler, and carved choir stalls from around 1680.
• The cloisters around the garth and the chapter house with its vault resting on a single pillar.
• A late Gothic triptych with figures of the Virgin and saints from the first quarter of the 16th century.

Tripto tip

The abbey is a working Salesian house and seminary, so parts of it are closed, and visits to the oratory and cloisters need to be arranged with the community. You can see the church outside service times in about 45 minutes; allow an hour and a half including the oratory and monastery. If the interiors are closed, the abbey's official website offers a virtual tour. The finest view of the whole complex is from the meadows in the Warta valley, especially in afternoon light. Ląd lies in Słupca County, not far from the town of Słupca, on the Cistercian Trail.