Churches and monasteries
a Gothic hall church of the 13th-15th centuries with a 51.5 m tower and Baroque interior furnishings
Historic sites
brick defensive gate of the 15th century, housing a tourist information point and a museum
Historic sites
Gothic gate of the 14th century with a clock and a bugle call, today with guest rooms
Churches and monasteries
neo-Gothic church, a former brick Old Lutheran church, Orthodox since 1954
Historic sites
a Gothic brick tower from the 15th century, 25 m high, with a viewing balcony over the town
Historic sites
an oval circuit of walls with gates and towers that still surrounds the Gryfice Old Town
Churches and monasteries
a Modernist brick church of 1930-1932, entered in the heritage register
Architecture in Gryfice means two Gothic gates, a tower and the Old Town walls, plus churches from Gothic to the modernism of 1930-1932.
Gryfice has a compact Old Town in which the monuments are a few minutes' walk apart. The selection helps if you want to compare periods in a small space: medieval brick fortifications, a Gothic hall church, neo-Gothic and modernism. The whole town is described under attractions in Gryfice, and buildings from the whole region are collected in the architecture section for West Pomerania.
The fortifications of Gryfice consist of two gates, Kamienna and Wysoka, a tower called the Gunpowder Tower, and fragments of the walls. They were built of brick in the 14th and 15th centuries on an oval plan around the Old Town, so they are easy to see in a single walk.
Brama Kamienna w Gryficach (Stone Gate) is one of the oldest parts of the fortifications. The first mention of the defences dates from 1333. The Gothic-Renaissance structure has a clock and a bugle call, and provincial road 109 passes through it. On the southern edge of the Old Town stands Brama Wysoka w Gryficach (High Gate), from the 15th century. You can step inside, as the gate houses tourist information and a museum with a gallery.
Wieża Prochowa w Gryficach (Gunpowder Tower) on Nadbrzeżna street, close to the Rega, is a two-cylinder tower built around 1400. After its 2007 renovation visitors can use its viewing balcony. The gates are linked by Mury obronne w Gryficach (Town Walls): the circuit measured about 650 metres, and building started around 1300. Fragments survive along the Rega and beside several streets. The fate of neighbouring towns' defences is told in a separate article on fortifications of several regional towns.
Three churches represent three styles: Gothic, neo-Gothic and modernism. Each stands in a different part of town, but the distances between them are short.
Start with the parish church: Kościół pw. Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Gryficach is a Gothic hall built between the 13th and 15th centuries, and its 51.5-metre tower dominates the Old Town. Inside, the Baroque furnishings survive, which is rare among the region's large town churches. On Nowy Świat street the brick neo-Gothic Cerkiew Zaśnięcia Przenajświętszej Bogurodzicy w Gryficach (Orthodox Church of the Dormition) stands out, laid out as a Latin cross. Originally Lutheran, it has been Orthodox since 1954. The youngest, from the early 1930s, stands on Górska street: Kościół Najświętszego Serca Pana Jezusa w Gryficach (Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) is a modernist brick building with a place in the register of monuments.
You can enter the High Gate, which holds a tourist information point and a museum with a gallery. The Gunpowder Tower has a viewing balcony after the renovation of 2007.
About 650 metres, on an oval plan around the Old Town. Construction began around 1300 and fragments survive today.
St Mary's, the church dedicated to the Assumption, a Gothic hall built from the 13th to the 15th century.
At Nowy Świat 3, in a former Old Lutheran church. It has served Orthodox worshippers since 1954.
