Three times larger than Wawel and still unwanted. "Our national shame"

The Cistercian Abbey in Lubiąż is one of the largest and most beautiful Baroque monuments in Europe. Unfortunately, although the building deserves its fame and tours full of foreign tourists... Still, few people know about it.

Founded in 1175, the Cistercian Abbey in Lubiąż is still considered one of the largest monastery complexes in Europe and is sometimes called the pearl of Silesian Baroque.

Unfortunately, although the abbey was an important place in the region for years, after 1810 it went through a turbulent period. The building was destroyed several times, and for a while it also served as a war warehouse and even... a psychiatric hospital .

Today, the abbey's situation has improved, because since 1989 activities aimed at gradual revitalization have been underway, for which the Lubiąż Foundation from Wrocław is largely responsible.

Fun fact: This is where the music video for the song "Małe rzeczy" by Sylwia Grzeszczak was filmed in 2012. Michał Probierz definitely doesn't like it.

But back to the monument... As Tomasz Bonek , author of the book "Lubiąż. Biografia Cudu" , admitted in an interview with Gazeta.pl , the complex unfortunately still does not have the status it deserves.

- It is the largest architectural monument in Poland, with almost 900 years of history, and unfortunately almost unknown, although it should be a tourist pearl of our country visited by tens of thousands of travelers, also from abroad - he said.

Bonek admits that the Cistercian abbey is three times larger than the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill , and yet it still does not have the fame of the pearl of the Krak Family . Why?

The monument still requires renovation, but according to the reporter, the foundation is not able to obtain such an amount on its own. In the aforementioned interview with Gazeta, Tomasz Bonek said that the entire restoration and renovation could cost up to three billion złoty .

Unfortunately, our politicians are not particularly interested in the subject, and for potential investors the building is too large and its location is not attractive enough.

- There were oil sheikhs from Qatar , Indians from the Tata concern . In 1997, Michael Jackson landed in a helicopter on a sports field between a cabbage field and a meadow with two spotted cows - recalls the author of "Lubiąż. Biografia Cudu" .

The vocalist apparently appreciated the abbey’s acoustics, but… that was all.

It's a pity, because although today the abbey delights with its architecture and frescoes by Michael Willmann , who is called the Silesian Rembrandt, it has not yet been properly appreciated. We keep our fingers crossed that this will change soon.