A late Gothic hall church with a tower 99 m high and the largest medieval bell in West Pomerania, linked with the Hospitaller commandery.
St John's Church in Stargard is a late Gothic brick church, a three-aisled hall church with a hall ambulatory choir and an axial west tower. Its history is linked with the local Hospitaller commandery. The tower, with a spire of 1892, is 99 m high.
A former conventual chapel from the second half of the 13th century was replaced by a church built in stages. Until now it has been dated to the 15th century, on the basis of inscriptions in the tower section: the nave and tower to 1408-1464, the choir to the last quarter of the 15th century. More recent research indicates, however, that the body of the nave was built earlier, in the second quarter of the 14th century, and after 1354 was already fit for liturgical use. The tower was built from 1408, and around 1500 a ring of low ambulatory chapels was added. The central nave has star vaults and the side aisles cross vaults.
The model was the Collegiate Church of St Mary, which can be seen about 500 m further on: the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Queen of the World.
The tower was destroyed twice: in 1540 and 1697, as a result of a gale and perhaps construction errors, crushing the vault and the chapels next to the tower. After the second rebuilding it received a gable roof. The conical spire dates from 1892. According to the Wikipedia entry the tower is 99 m high and is one of the tallest in West Pomerania. In 1998, during renovation of the top, documents and coins with a letter from a pastor of 1893 were found in the metal ball.
Three historic bells hang in the tower. The largest, Jan Maria, cast in 1464, weighs 3,876 kg and according to the Wikipedia entry is the largest medieval bell in West Pomerania. The two smaller ones date from the beginning and from the second half of the 15th century. One of them was moved after 1945 from a church in Rogowo that no longer exists. In January 2025 the renovated bells were blessed in the church.
Until the Second World War the church had rich furnishings, including a late Gothic St John polyptych from the second half of the 15th century, which after the war went to the National Museum in Szczecin. In the northern part, by the sacristy, stand 15th-century choir stalls with four seats. In 1968-1973 a set of stained-glass windows from a workshop in Katowice was installed, and the polychromes on the pillars were made in 1958-1961 by Prof. Hopper. In 2005 relics of St Raphael Kalinowski were acquired.
After 1945 the church was handed over to the Roman Catholic Church, and the Society of Christ Fathers took charge of it. Nearby lies the Mill Gate, about 400 m from the church.
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