Church of St John the Baptist in Budzistowo

The Church of St John the Baptist in Budzistowo is a small, single-nave Gothic church measuring about 8 by 5 metres. It stands in a village where a stronghold preceding the chartered town of Kołobrzeg once lay. It is entered in the heritage register, which dates it to the 13th century.

From stronghold to church

The year of construction is given in different ways: 1222, the middle of the 13th century, or around 1281, when the church was first mentioned. According to the entry on the church, the first church, perhaps a wooden one, was founded in 1222 by Duchess Mirosława of Pomerania, the mother of Barnim I, and the brick church was built presumably around 1250. The church passed to the monastery in Mogilno, and in a source of 1333 it was under the Bishop of Kamień. The Wikipedia entry on the village itself calls it the oldest church in Pomerania, but this description appears only in that one entry.

Budzistowo is a village in the municipality of Kołobrzeg. According to the same entry, a fortified stronghold stood here from the middle of the 9th century, and its rampart is still visible today. The Co-Cathedral Basilica in present-day Kołobrzeg is less than two kilometres away.

Damage and renovations

After the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War the church was dilapidated and its demolition was considered, but in 1670 it was renovated. It was damaged by the Russian siege of Kołobrzeg in 1760 and by the siege of 1807. Its appearance was changed by the reconstruction of 1824: a new entrance was made on the west side, and a half-timbered turret covered with shingles was built in the upper part. A new roof was laid in 1890, and in 1945 fighting destroyed the top of the tower and some of the glazing. In the 1960s and 1980s the plaster was removed from the walls, a wooden ceiling was laid and a gallery was built. The church was consecrated again in 1980. The chancel has a cross-rib vault.

Practical information

• Address: Kołobrzeska 20, Budzistowo (Kołobrzeg municipality).
• The building is in the heritage register together with its surroundings, that is, the former churchyard.
• Opening hours and service times are given by the parish.