• Address: 72-344 Trzęsacz

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  • Location:

    The ruins of the church are in the northern part of Trzęsacz, on a cliff.

The foundation of St Nicholas's Church is dated from the turn of the fourteenth century. The Gothic church was built originally in the middle of a village, at a distance of about two kilometres from the sea. It was one of the most impressive churches in Western Pomerania. It was built with hand-moulded bricks, on the foundations of boulders. It was a towerless aisleless building, built on a rectangular plan. Originally a Catholic church, it was taken over by evangelicals in 1534.

As a result of abrasive processes (one of the forms of erosion involving the abrasion of bedrock by loose rock material moved by sea currents, waves and tides) the cliff edge got closer to the church in 1750 at a distance of 58 metres. Then, the first, unsuccessful, attempts to protect the temple were made. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the cliff was so close that the crumbling ground revealed the graves at the churchyard. The distance between the cliff and the church walls was only 1 metre in 1868. Not until six year later were the services stopped being held. The last Mass was conducted on 2nd March 1874. The church was finally closed on 2nd August 1874. Its equipment was transferred to the cathedral in Kamień Pomorski, the church in Rewal, as well as to museums in Szczecin in Berlin. The first element of the church, which was a piece of the buttress, collapsed in 1900. From that time to 1st February 1994, the sea was gradually eroding successive parts of the church. After the 2001's protection works, it was assumed that the catastrophe of 1994 was the last one in the history of the church. Nowadays You can see a part of the southern wall of a length of 12 metres and a height of 6 metres. It is clearly visible from the observation deck by the sea.

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