Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec

The abbey is situated high on a limestone hill overlooking the Vistula by a convenient crossing to the other bank. Thanks to this situation, the site was a perfect place to control the river crossing, providing at the same time marvellous defence.

The origins of the abbey remain unknown to this day. Both the chronicler Jan Długosz and local tradition claim that the abbey was founded by Prince Casimir the Restorer (Kazimierz Odnowiciel) who is believed to have brought the Benedictine Order to the site in 1044. Some archaeologists believe the establishment of the abbey to be later by a few decades – in the 1070s – which is when the first basilica was built as a foundation of King Boleslaus the Bold (Bolesław Śmiały). The stonework that remains from this first church is a testimony to its very rich decoration. Moreover, the monastery must have been a true economic power as its abbot was referred to as “the abbot over a hundred villages”.

The abbey received powerful fortifications in the first half of the 13th century, and from that time onwards frequently played the role of a fortress defending access to Kraków. Although it was sometimes successful, it was looted and burned by the Tatars (Mongols) in 1260 and again during the conflict between Prince Ladislaus the Elbow-High (Władysław Łokietek) and the King of Poland and Bohemia Wenceslaus II (Wacław II / Václav II). The destroyed church was rebuilt in Gothic style, received Renaissance elements in the 16th century, and finally took on a baroque appearance early in the 18th century. The changes introduced in the second half of the 18th century, when the interior was refurbished and furnished, and the monumental façade with its two towers was created, were decisive factors in determining the appearance of the church today.

The Austrians dissolved the abbey in 1816, and it frequently changed hands over the following century, falling into ever greater disrepair. It did not find a custodian which really cared about it until the Archbishop of Kraków, Adam Stefan Sapieha, managed to have the abbey handed over to the Belgian Order of Benedictines between the two world wars and they revived their operation in Tyniec in 1939. Work on the restoration and reconstruction of the site began soon after the second world war, and continues to this day. The former library, which today houses the Benedictine Institute of Culture, was completed in 2008. Historic fragments of Romanesque and Gothic stonework, and sections of the arcades of the original gallery are displayed on the premises. Although the monks still call this part of the abbey “the great ruin”, the name is now no more than customary.

Walking into the abbey, you pass through the “castle”, as the 15th-century building of the Abbot in which the gate was placed, is called. This way we enter a spacious courtyard that used to be the public area of the abbey, where guests were officially welcomed.
The Benedictine Church of St Peter and St Paul consists of a single nave, whose furnishing is mostly baroque. The musical choir over the entrance and the boat-shaped pulpit from the second half of the 18th century are worthy of note. The oldest visible part of the church is its chancel, dating back to the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The polychrome painting on the southern wall presenting The Magi dates back to the same time.

The chancel provides a way in to the cloister of the monastery, where our thoughts are transported to the beginnings of the abbey thanks to the well preserved walls of the Romanesque church that are exposed, built from small limestone blocks in the second half of the 11th century.

Visits to the a bbey and the lapidarium: Mon-Sat 9am-1pm on the hour, Sun noon-6pm on the hour.