Trzęsacz, a small town located on the coast of Western Pomerania, hides one of the most fascinating ruins in Poland – the remains of the Gothic church of St. Nicholas. It is a place that has witnessed many changes over the centuries, both historical and natural. Today, only the south wall of the church, standing on the edge of a cliff, is preserved as a reminder of the former glory of the building, which was one of the most magnificent rural churches in Pomerania. Today, the church in Trzęsacz is a unique attraction in Europe.
The church of St. Nicholas in Trzęsacz was built in 1124 as a wooden structure, which was later replaced by a brick church in Gothic style at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. Initially, it was located about 2 km from the Baltic coast, in the middle of a small fishing village and served Catholics. Over time, as a result of the Reformation and religious changes, the temple became an Evangelical church. Over the centuries, despite numerous reconstructions and renovations, the church retained its importance as a place of worship and a focal point of life for the local community.
The church in Trzęsacz in 1870. Photo: http://www.wybrzeze-rewalskie.pl/atrakcje/ruiny.html
In 1658, the church was thoroughly renovated and the interior was enriched with new elements, such as Renaissance and Baroque pews, a pulpit, a baptistery and an altar. Unfortunately, the interior of the church was ransacked by Russian troops during the Seven Years’ War. Further problems arose in 1760 and 1818, when the wooden tower of the church was damaged twice by lightning strikes. It was eventually decided to demolish it, replacing it with a bell tower.
In the 18th century, the destructive power of nature began to be felt more and more intensively. The process of abrasion – coastal erosion caused by sea waves – became a real threat to the Gothic church. The sea gradually washed away the cliff for decades, coming closer to the church and the churchyard. When the brick church was erected in the 15th century, the seashore was about 2 km away. In 1806, it was only 14.5 m. Consequently, it was decided to close the cemetery in 1809, and soon afterwards work began on a new church, the Divine Mercy, which was completed in 1880.
In 1868 the church stood just above the cliff. Despite this, services were held in the church until 1874, when the temple was closed for safety reasons. The valuable furnishings were then dismantled and moved to other churches or museums. The most dramatic chapter in the history of St. Nicholas Church began with the arrival of the 20th century, when the Baltic Sea began to systematically destroy more parts of the building. In 1900, the sea took away the first section of the church’s buttress, and on the night of 8-9 March of the same year, the north wall collapsed. Over the following decades, the waves gradually destroyed further parts of the building and its immediate surroundings – the cemetery, the north wall, and in 1994 half of the south wall collapsed, leaving only the fragment we can admire today.
The church in Trzęsacz – interior in the years 1905 and 1935. Source: Deutsche Fotothek www.deutschefotothek.de
The church of St. Nicholas in Trzęsacz was a hall building, laid out on a rectangular plan measuring 23 by 9 metres, with a pentagonal closed chancel. Originally the building did not have a tower, which was added in 1650 and demolished in the 19th century. The church was built of hand-formed brick on a solid fieldstone foundation.
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The interior of the church was richly furnished. Highlights included a Gothic triptych depicting Our Lady and Child (now in Rewal) and figures of saints, as well as an early Baroque altarpiece from 1673, which is now in the Church of the Divine Mercy in Trzęsacz. Also valuable were the Renaissance stalls from 1583, which can now be admired in the cathedral in Kamień Pomorski.
In the 1990s, intensive efforts were made to secure the ruins of the church and stop further damage to the cliff. After much consultation, it was decided to build a special coastal band to protect the remains of the church from slipping into the sea. In 2001, the foundations of the ruins were reinforced and the cliff slope was secured with mesh baskets filled with stones, on top of which vegetation was planted, the roots of which would help stabilise the entire structure. Since then, the remains of the Gothic temple have not been further degraded by abrasion. However, it is unclear for how long these measures will work, after all, the Baltic Sea absorbs as much as 50 hectares of land each year, and in some places the shore recedes by up to one metre a year.
Ruins in 1993 and 2007. Photo: Mariusz Brzeziński/photopolska.eu and Remigiusz Józefowicz (pl:dzoker), CC BY-SA 2.5 PL, via Wikimedia Commons
Source: pobierowo.info.pl, trzesacz.pl
