Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Pyrzyce

The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Pyrzyce is the oldest church in the town. It was built of brick on stone foundations around 1260 as the church of a convent of Augustinian nuns.

Convent, Protestant church, ruin

The Augustinian nuns were brought to Pyrzyce around 1253 by Duke Barnim I. The Reformation led to the dissolution of the convent, and in 1574 the sisters finally left. In 1588 a renovation and adaptation as a Protestant church was begun. In 1664 the west part had collapsed, so in 1690 a renovation was carried out with new furnishings, and in the second half of the 19th century the building was extended again. In 1945, after bombing, the church burned down, and only the perimeter walls remained.

Rebuilding

The ruin was handed over to the Church in 1986, and in December of that year a parish was established there. It was rebuilt in 1989-1991 to a design by Maciej Płotkowiak. The oriented hall on the plan of an elongated rectangle measures 11.6 by 32.8 metres, with a porch on the north and a larger wing on the south with a sacristy and a presbytery. The historic furnishings did not survive; in the chancel stands a modern altar in the form of a triptych, made by Tadeusz Makulec of Szczecin. Four bells hang in the churchyard bell tower.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Staromiejska 28, Pyrzyce.
• The service times are given by the parish.
• The second parish church in the town is the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.