Former Cistercian Convent and Church in Owińska

In 1806 Napoleon arrived at the Cistercian convent in Owińska – and, according to legend and literature, an attempt on his life was made right here. Eight kilometres from Poznań's city limits stands a Baroque complex with the twin-towered Church of St John the Baptist, whose story runs from a medieval abbey through a psychiatric hospital, a wartime crime and an SS school to a centre for blind children. Since 2012 it has been home to the first Spatial Orientation Park in Poland and Europe.

History: Cistercian nuns from Trzebnica

The convent was founded in 1242–1252 by Duke Przemysł I and his brother Bolesław the Pious. In 1252 twelve Cistercian nuns arrived from Trzebnica. The sisters ran a school where, besides candidates for the order, girls from landed families were educated; around 1594 the convent had 15 nuns and 5 novices. Today's Baroque complex is the work of two architects: the convent was built in 1700 to designs by Jan Catenazzi and, after a fire in 1720, rebuilt by Pompeo Ferrari, who also designed the church erected in 1720–1728.

After the Second Partition, Prussia confiscated the convent's estates and in 1797 sold them to the Berlin banker Zygmunt Otton von Treskow. The nuns stayed in Owińska until the convent was dissolved in 1835 and were moved to Ołobok.

Hospital, crime and rebirth

In 1838 an asylum for the mentally ill opened in the former convent buildings; it was remodelled in 1873–1875. After the outbreak of the Second World War the Germans liquidated the hospital as part of the T4 programme: more than a thousand patients were there at the time. Adults were shot in the forests, while children were taken to Fort VII in Poznań and gassed. During the occupation the buildings housed an SS school, the Wehrmacht took over some of the rooms, and the church was used as a warehouse.

Since 1952 the buildings have housed a special school and residential centre for blind children. The Spatial Orientation Park, opened on 3 September 2012, teaches children to move around a city independently, and the centre also created Poland's first Library of Scents. In 2013 the complex won an award in the "Well-Kept Monument" competition.

What to see

• The Church of St John the Baptist – Baroque altars; the most precious relic of the Cistercian era is a relic of the Holy Cross from 1622. Since 1965, when a statue of Our Lady of Fátima was brought here, the church has been a shrine; the parish is run by the Sacred Hearts Fathers.
• The twin-towered façade and the dome – best seen from the courtyard.
• The Renaissance Church of St Nicholas – the parish church from 1574 to 1835, restored and consecrated in 2018.
• The von Treskow Palace from 1804–1806.

Tripto tip

The church is an active parish church, so visit the interior outside services. The convent buildings and the Spatial Orientation Park serve the school for blind children and are not regularly open to tourists. Poznań County has organised free guided tours during European Heritage Days, with registration – check current announcements. Without booking you can see the church, the courtyard and the exterior façades; allow about an hour. Owińska lies on the Cistercian Route, and the forests of the Zielonka Primeval Forest are close by.