The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus church with its surroundings

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus church in Bukowo Morskie is a historic church erected in the 14th century by the Cistercians. The monks came to Bukowo at the invitation of Duke Świętopełk II in 1252. In the mediaeval Europe they were valued for their self-sufficiency and contribution to the development of culture and economy. The Cistercians were known for promoting the establishment of water forges and fish ponds, as well as the construction of mills and breweries. No wonder then that a Pomeranian duke wanted them to settle within his country. In Bukowo, they erected not only the church, but also an abbey, which has not survived to the present times. In the heyday, the Cistercians profited from as many as 26 villages, granted them by the subsequent dukes. The church was managed by7 the monks up to 1534. Then, during an assembly summoned by the Dukes of Pomerania, it was decided that Protestantism would be adopted as an official religion. According to the prevailing rule called “cuius regio, eius religio”, the rulers, belonging to a given denomination, imposed it upon all their subjects. Because there were no more profits from the presence of the Cistercians within Pomerania, the monks were forced to cede the church to the newly established Evangelical Church of Pomerania. Since then, until 1945, the church was used by German Evangelicals, then by Polish Evangelicals, and, finally, a parish of the Polish Catholic Church was established there in 1964.

The church was built of red brick in the Gothic style. From the northern, southern, and eastern sides, there are massive buttresses with three offsets. It is a three-nave hall church with a four-bay body and a pentagonal, single-nave presbytery. West of the body, there is a three-storey tower; there is also a not large sacristy on the northern side. The interior of the presbytery is separated from the nave by a thick wall – there is a wide arcade with a rood arch, supported with ceramic brackets located about 1.5 m from the floor. The presbytery has an apical star-like vault, while the nave is topped with a four-apex star-like vault. The internal division of the church is interesting. The nave is separated from the aisles by square-shaped posts. There are lanceted windows in the aisles. The tower has a lanceted connecting entrance. Originally, the ground floor was open in three directions, with a portal from the west and with larger lanceted arcades from the north and the south. The northern and the southern arcades were bricked up during the renovation of the church in the 19th century.

Inside the church, a Renaissance pulpit catches the eye of the visitors. The Gothic furnishings of the church in Bukowo Morskie was moved to the Museum of Central Pomerania in Słupsk. In order to admire a late Gothic triptych, a Gothic epitaph, and a figure of St Mary with Infant Jesus made of alabaster, tourists need to visit another province.

The churchyard is well maintained, old-growth trees are planted there. A cemetery used to be located there. The remnants of Evangelical tombstones were placed in one place. In 2001, at the initiative of the descendants of people formerly inhabiting the region, a monument commemorating the deceased residents of Bukowo and nearby towns. From the south, there is a monument commemorating the Heroes of the Pomeranian Wall. It was made in the 1950 in honour of the soldiers of the 1st Polish Army who fell during the breaking of the Nazi fortifications in Pomerania during the Second World War. Near the entrance, there is a monumental lime with the circumference of almost 6 metres.

Cars can be parked near the church. The doors of the church are open, bars separate the entrance from the inside, but tourists can freely take a look at the old Gothic architecture of the church’s interior. The church is located on the route of the Pomeranian Cistercian Trail.