Ruins of St George's Chapel in Goleniów

The ruins of St George's Chapel in Goleniów are, according to Wikipedia, the oldest historic monument in the town. They lie in the left-bank part of Goleniów, on the former settlement of Wyk, and the site was laid out as a small park and opened to the public in 2005.

A chapel and church that no longer exist

According to tradition the first church was built here at the beginning of the 13th century, in the style of late Romanesque or early Gothic. Maps and drawings by Lubinus show it as an octagonal building of brick and stone, topped with a dome and a low turret, surrounded by a cemetery. The heritage register gives the date as the 15th century. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries a church, also dedicated to St George, was built on the spot, on a rectangular plan, of brick, with a spire. It served the residents until the end of the Second World War and burnt down completely in 1945.

The discovery in 2004

The ruins were found in 2004 during excavations in the project “Histories Written in Stones”. They were carried out jointly by pupils from Bergen on Rügen and history enthusiasts from the history workshop at the Goleniów House of Culture. They were looking for the foundations of the 18th-century church. It turned out that they lie about 30 cm below ground in very good condition, together with fragments of floors and entrances. Beneath them the foundations of the medieval church were found, as well as several historic gravestones and fragments of liturgical vessels.

What you will see today

The site is a square surrounded by a stone wall, about 3 metres above the level of the pavement, between Szczecińska, Sportowa and Marii Konopnickiej streets. After the works of 2005 it has park paths, gravelled areas without floors, a few old gravestones, a metal structure with fragments of finds, an information board, benches and lighting. In May 2004 a memorial stone was set up for all those buried in this place, because before the excavations it was a former cemetery. For a walk around the old town the Church of St Catherine and the Mint Tower fit well.

Practical information

• Address: Goleniów, Sportowa Street, in the square at the junction of Szczecińska and Marii Konopnickiej streets.
• According to the entry on the site, the area is open to everyone and covered by round-the-clock monitoring. You can see it from the paths; the ruins are secured foundations.
• Nearby survive the town walls and the granary.