Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Kamieniec Ząbkowicki

In Kamieniec Ząbkowicki towers the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary — a Gothic, three-aisle hall church built by the Cistercians for over a hundred years, from 1247 to 1350. It is a powerful cruciform building, today part of a complex designated a Historic Monument.

The Cistercian abbey

The temple was raised from stone blocks, and monastic buildings grew around it: weaving and shoemaking workshops, a water mill, a sawmill and, in time, a brewery. For centuries the abbey was the economic heart of the area.

A Baroque transformation

In the 17th century the church took on Baroque features: new elevations appeared, three chapels and a porch were added, and a representational abbot's building was erected. The high altar, made of pine wood, holds a painting surrounded by figures carved from linden wood.

The monastery today and the palace next door

The former abbot's building now houses a branch of the State Archive in Wrocław, and the former convent holds a memorial room; Kamieniec lies on the Cistercian Trail. On the hill above the church stands the 19th-century, neo-Gothic palace of Marianne of Orange-Nassau. In 2024 the palace together with the former abbey complex was declared a Historic Monument — one of the more important points of Lower Silesia, worth planning at least half a day for.