St. Mary’s the Queen of Poland Church at Iwiecino

The Iwiecino temple is the oldest and the most beautiful church which stands on the territory of a historic dominion of the Cistercians’ Monastery at Bukowo Morskie. It belongs to a unique group of 75 gothic village churches of which the Western Pommerania is noted. They are all situated in the belt along the sea coast line of approximately 40 kilometer width.

The eldest items of the church fitting give evidence to its Cistercian origin. The sacramental cabinet and the crucifix come from the middle of the 15th century. In particular, the ends of the crucifix arms decorated with medallions featuring 4 symbols of the Evangelists look to be created in the times of the activity of the monastery at Bukowo Morskie. In turn, the 17th century outfit for a liturgy confirms a protestant rite dominant in the then Pomerania which found itself under the influence of the Reformation Movement and the art it brought along with it.

The church at Iwiecino is a temple whose outline has been aligned with its gothic nave and the presbytery which ends two-sided. It features steeply arched windows and a fault portal which is its entrance. The church tower with a height of 32 meters is bent westward on purpose in order to protect it from strong winds blowing in this region from the same direction. The church tower and its nave have been shingled with the oak wood. At the top of the tower one can see the wind indicator in the form of a tracery cock standing on the sphere which features a four digit number of 1663. The tower elevations were richly decorated with blends of varying rhythm. The tower is covered with a pyramid roof unlike the nave which is covered with a doubly precipitous roof. The sacristy was added to the southern side of the nave in the 19th century.