Historic sites

Romanesque Trail

The trail links the most valuable evidence of Romanesque art in Poland: buildings erected from the 11th to the 13th centuries, when the young Piast state rivalled the contemporary Europe. The starting point is Strzelno in Kuyavia, where two exceptional monuments stand side by side. The route is marked with a sign carrying the trail name and the silhouette of a Romanesque building.

Stone that remained

Rulers and religious orders raised churches on Italian and French models, and their remains are scattered today across twelve voivodeships. Among the more than sixty objects on the route are Gniezno Cathedral, the palatium on Ostrów Lednicki, the collegiate church in Kruszwica, the abbeys of Tum, Wąchock and Sulejów, St Andrew's Church in Kraków and the Wawel rotunda. In this stone one reads the beginnings of Polish statehood and art.

Two monuments of Strzelno

The starting rotunda of St Procopius is the largest Romanesque circular church in Poland; the chronicles of Jan Długosz give 16 March 1133 as the day of its consecration, and since 2018 it has borne the title of a Monument of History. Next to it stands the Church of the Holy Trinity from the 12th and 13th centuries, known for its Romanesque frescoes.

In practice

The route does not follow a single line — it is best planned as several car trips through selected regions. Strzelno lies on national road 62; the rotunda and the church combine well with Kruszwica, Mogilno and Inowrocław.