Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bukowo Morskie

The church in Bukowo Morskie is a Gothic church built by the Cistercians at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Today it belongs to the Polish Catholic Church and is on the list of the European Cistercian Route.

The Cistercian church

The first monks arrived in Bukowo Morskie in 1252 from the monastery in Dargun in Mecklenburg, at the invitation of Duke Świętopełk II of Pomerania. Besides the church they built an abbey in the village and created a large estate, which influenced the economy of the Duchy of Słupsk. The church was extended in the 15th century. The convent looked after it until the 16th century.

From the Cistercians to the Polish Catholics

After Protestantism was adopted in Pomerania in 1535, the Cistercians had to hand over the church. Until 1945 it served a Lutheran congregation, and in the 19th century it was renovated and given a Gothic Revival form. Since 1964 it has belonged to a Polish Catholic parish. It was entered in the heritage register on 11 November 1959.

Hall layout

The church has three naves in a hall layout, with a four-bay body and a five-sided, single-nave chancel. A bell tower adjoins it on the west and a small sacristy on the north. An alabaster sculpture of the "Beautiful Madonna" type from about 1440, which comes from this church, is now displayed in the National Museum in Szczecin.

Practical information

• Address: Bukowo Morskie 7, Darłowo municipality.
• The church in Dobiesław, the Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa, is about five kilometres away.
• Opening hours are given by the Polish Catholic parish.