Wachock Abbey

The Cistercian abbey at Wachock was founded in 1179 and its church, built in the first half of the thirteenth century, is one of the best Romanesque buildings in Poland: sandstone laid in alternating bands of white, yellow and reddish stone so the walls are striped, a west front with an ornamented portal, and inside, a set of monastic rooms that survived nearly complete. The chapter house is the one to see - four bays of ribbed vault on two central columns, with carved capitals and rosettes, considered the finest Romanesque interior in the country. The refectory and fraternity room adjoin. Monks are in residence again. The town outside is known nationally for a different reason: Wachock is the setting of a long-running cycle of Polish jokes about its mayor, in which the soltys of Wachock is the standard comic figure, and the town has embraced this with a statue.

History

The abbey is thought to have been founded in 1179, probably with Gedko, Bishop of Kraków, as its main founder, and the church of the Virgin Mary and Saint Florian was finished before 1241. The monks prospered for centuries from farming and from metal mining and working; after later invasions left the abbey plundered, it was rebuilt by 1696, and in 1819 it was suppressed and its church became a parish church (Wikipedia, Wąchock Abbey).

What you'll find

• Striped sandstone walls - white, yellow and red bands through the thirteenth-century fabric.
• The chapter house - ribbed vaults on two columns, the best Romanesque interior in Poland.
• Refectory and fraternity room - the monastic rooms surviving alongside.
• The mayor of Wachock - the national joke cycle, with a statue in town.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Things to know

It is a working monastery: the monastic rooms are shown on a guided visit at set times and the church closes for services. The town is small. Interpretation is largely in Polish.

Nearby

Starachowice is east; the Swietokrzyskie mountains are south.

Key facts