Church of the Assumption and St Nicholas, Giecz

The first church on this spot was so small that it held only about 30 worshippers. On its foundations, around the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, builders raised the present single-nave church of granite blocks, with walls 110 cm thick. It is one of the best-preserved Romanesque churches in Greater Poland. It stands in Giecz, about 300 m from a stronghold that was one of the main centres of the early Piast state, Poland's first ruling dynasty.

History: the church of a market settlement

Giecz lay at the crossroads of long-distance trade routes. In 1038 the stronghold was captured and burned by the Bohemian duke Bretislav I, and its people were carried off to Bohemia. Around that time a small stone church with an apse was built in the market settlement on the eastern shore of the lake, linked to the stronghold by a wooden bridge. Its nave measured just 5 × 4 m. It was one of the few stone buildings in Poland at the time.

At the end of the 12th century or around 1200, a larger church that held about 140 people replaced it. The founder's name is unknown. Historians cautiously link it to Mieszko III the Old, who ruled Greater Poland at the time. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary from the start, and the second dedication to St Nicholas was added later. After a fire in 1713 and further repairs in the 19th century, buttresses, a porch and a tower were added. These were removed during work in 1953–1956.

What to see

• Granite-block walls, whose faces still show tool marks and cuts made with a sharp instrument.
• Two original Romanesque windows in the north wall. The eastern one is partly bricked up.
• Remains of the older 11th-century church, uncovered during work after 1951.
• The Romanesque altar table, measuring 150 × 116 × 130 cm and built of seven courses of stone blocks.
• A late Gothic sandstone holy-water stoup shaped like a chalice, and a late Gothic wooden Madonna and Child.

Interesting facts

The nave of the present church measures only 8.35 × 5.72 m. Many facing stones were replaced during conservation in the 1950s and around 2000. The entrance portal and some of the window frames are modern reconstructions, so the most authentic parts are on the north side. In the chancel there are two niches for sedilia, the seats used by the clergy.

Tripto tip

This is a working church, so the easiest time to see inside is before or after services. You can view the exterior at any time. The church itself takes 20–30 minutes, but it is worth crossing to the other side of the lake to the stronghold. There you will find the Early Piast Stronghold Archaeological Reserve, a branch of the Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica. Its highlights include the foundations of a 47 m long late-10th-century palatium (ducal palace) and the Baroque church of St John the Baptist. Giecz lies in Dominowo district, Środa Wielkopolska County, about 25 km from Gniezno and about 30 km from Poznań.