Ruins of the church in Trzęsacz

The ruins of the church in Trzęsacz are the last wall of a medieval church standing on the edge of a cliff above the Baltic. Of St Nicholas' Church, which once stood in the middle of the village, 1.8-2 km from the sea, the south wall survives, 12 m long and 6 m high. For centuries the sea undermined the cliff until the church found itself right on the edge. Today the ruins are secured, and a museum next to them tells the story.

How the sea took the church

Wikipedia gives 1124 as the year a wooden church was built, and the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries as the time when a brick Gothic church replaced it. The heritage register dates the structure to the second half of the 15th century. After 1534 the church became Protestant, and in 1658 it was repaired and furnished. The church measured 23 by 9 metres and had a chancel closed on five sides.

The distance from the cliff shrank from century to century. According to Wikipedia it was 58 m in 1750, 14.5 m in 1806, 12 m in 1835, about 5 m in 1855 and one metre in 1868. Services were still held, the last on 2 March 1874, and on 2 August 1874 the church was closed for safety reasons.

Further walls that fell

In 1891 foundation stones appeared in the undermined cliff, and in 1900 the sea took the first piece of a buttress. On the night of 8 to 9 March 1900 the north wall fell, followed in the next decades by further parts: the north-west corner in 1903, the façade in 1913 and 1922, and the south-west corner with its buttress in 1956. The last major loss was half of the south wall, which collapsed on 1 February 1994.

On its website the museum dates the fall of the north wall differently, to 1930, so this date is given in different ways. After the collapse of 1994 Rewal municipality secured the ruins: in 2001 a revetment was laid at the foot of the cliff, in 2002 a new foundation was built under the remaining wall, and the base of the cliff was protected with an 80-metre revetment of gabion baskets.

The legend of Zielenica

The place is linked with a legend, not a confirmed fact. According to it, fishermen accidentally caught Zielenica, the goddess of the sea, and the local parish priest imprisoned her. Zielenica died of longing and was buried in the churchyard. Ever since, her father, the Baltic, was said to send wave after wave to reclaim his daughter's body and carry it to the bottom of the sea.

What is nearby

On Klifowa Street, about 50 metres from the ruins, stands the Multimedia Museum on the Cliff, which tells the history of the church.

The new Church of Divine Mercy was built in 1880, and since 2003 it has housed an early Baroque altar from 1673. About 5 km away is the lighthouse in Niechorze.

Practical information

• Location: Trzęsacz, Rewal municipality, at the edge of the cliff.
• The museum next to the ruins is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00-17.00, and closed on Mondays (information from the museum's website). Check it at muzeumtrzesacz.pl before your visit.
• Keep a safe distance from the edge, because the cliff is still subsiding.