Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Trzebież

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross stands in Trzebież on Rybacka Street, in Police municipality. The present Baroque building dates from 1745, but it stands on the foundation of a much older church. It is entered in the heritage register.

From Gothic to Baroque

Around 1359 a church dedicated to St Catherine was built in the village, in the Romanesque-Gothic style, of dressed brick on a foundation of fieldstone boulders. Until 1552 the patronage of the church and the settlement belonged to the Duke of Pomerania. Then the church became a parish for Niekłończyca, Drogoradz and Kopice, and after 1587 a Protestant congregation.

In the middle of the 18th century the building was partly demolished. In 1745 it was rebuilt on the old foundation, on a rectangular plan, with a new tower, a Baroque dome and long windows. In 1793 a gallery was added. At the end of the 1990s the church was restored again.

The tower and the bells

The three-storey tower is wooden and ends in an octagonal lantern with a spire and a cross on a ball. Two bells cast in Szczecin, in 1664 and 1729, hang in it.

After 1945

After the Second World War and the abolition of the so-called Police Enclave the church came under Polish jurisdiction. The parish under its present dedication was erected on 2 September 1946. Right beside it stands a sandstone sculpture of Our Lady of Otucha, the work of Zbigniew Policki, funded by Trzebież fishermen in 1986. Opposite the church, at Rybacka 2, stands a historic rectory, a former pastor's house from the early 19th century. The parish feast day falls on 14 September.

Practical information

• Address: Rybacka Street, Trzebież.
• Nearby is the marina in Trzebież, and in Stepnica municipality the Church of St Hyacinth in Stepnica, about 7 km from here.
• Mass times and the possibility of going inside are given by the parish; check them before a visit.