Baszta Więzienna [the Prison Tower]
Cistercians arrived to Kołbacz in 1173. They were brought here from Denmark by Wartislaw Swantibor. The monks specialised in agriculture, stimulated economic growth of the village, contributed to the construction of major facilities. In the years 1210-1347, thanks to the monks, a monastery, a church, farm buildings and fortifications were built in Kołbacz. The only remnant of the fortification which has survived to our times is the prison tower.
The prison tower was built in 1349, near the bridge over the Płonia River opposite the Abbot's house.
Built in the thirteenth century, the monastery was surrounded by walls and towers to fight off invaders. And they attacked way too often. In 1242, when the prince of Szczecin learned that the monks accepted German patronage, invaded and completely plundered Cistercians' property. In 1273 and 1478, the monastery complex was attacked by an army of Brandenburg; in 1433, the Hussites were the ones who invaded. Monks decided to build ramparts and moats due to the frequently repeated attacks. Only the prison power, where a dungeon used to be, was preserved from the fortifications.
The building was built of red brick, with a gable roof as its coping. Small, rectangular window openings are seen in the walls of the tower. You can find empty space inside where the door used to be, but the hinges are still in the walls. The tower is unique on a national scale, as it is the only remnant of the fortifications defending the monks' assets in Poland.
A residential building, where a convenience store "Pod Basztą" is, is adjacent to and several hundred years younger than the tower. The prison tower is one of the few buildings that survived in a very good state out of the whole complex of medieval monastic buildings. Nevertheless, it has not been repaired for years. The prison tower with a Gothic barn and refectory of the oblates was included on the list of monuments in April 1955. The building has not been renovated, and the tower is not currently open to the public.

Collection of glacial erratics in Kołbacz
Glacial erratics in Kołbacz, were collected from the local fields. It was done by the Experimental Unit of the Zoo-technology Research Institute, whose main task was to make academic research and to raise and breed cattle, swine, and sheep. Władysław Mazurkiewicz, who had been the manager of this institution for many years, was also a great fan of Kołbacz. He initiated transport of the biggest, erratic in the collection from Dębina on Miedwie Lake. Erractics are kind of natural monuments. On some of them, memorial plaques are installed. They concern important events from the history of the town and the whole region.
In 1973, the abovementioned glacier erratic from Miedwie, added splendour to the celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the arrival of the Cistercians to Kołbacz. It is a big-size, red-brownish Rapakivi granite which came from the Aland Islands on the Baltic Sea. It has 9 meters in perimeter and it is 2,2 meters tall. It weights approximately 40 tons. As a monument of nature it has been under special protection. Another erratic, which is also of impressive size (perimeter 10,4 m, height 1,55 m), commemorates Western Pomerania’s return to Poland. The plaque was added in 1985, on the day of the 40th anniversary of that important event. One of the smallest stones has a logo of the Experimental Unit of the Zoo-technology Research Institute. The plaque was made in 1987, to celebrate the 20th birthday of this institution.
While visiting Kołbacz, it is worth finding all glacier erratics. Most of them can be found nearby the Cistercian Abbey and the palace. It is also a good opportunity to see some more, interesting historical places in this town.

Dąb Napoleona

Dom Opata [The Abbot’s House]
The traces of settlement within the area of present Kołbacz can be dated back to the 7th century; in the Middle Ages, a ducal town was located there, and the village was principally influenced by the Cistercian monastery.
The monks came to this area in 1173, brought from Denmark by Warcisław Świętoborzyc. Cistercians specialized in agriculture, they stimulated the village in terms of economy and contributed to the construction of the most important buildings. In the Middle Ages, Kołbacz was regarded as a capital of this “monastic state”.
In the years 1210-1347, due to the monks such buildings as a monastery, a church, farm buildings, and fortifications were erected. There are numerous historic monuments preserved in the village – Kołbacz, next to Kamień Pomorski, passes as the town of the oldest and most interested historical buildings in the West Pomerania Province.
From the complex of monastic buildings erected in the late 13th century, the following have survived up to this day: the so-called Dom Konwersów [the Converses’ House], the prison tower, the Gothic barn and Dom Opata.
The house was built near the southeast corner of the monastery in the 14th century. It is a two-storey building with a cellar, connected with the rest of the monastery with a roofed gallery. The building was repeatedly rebuilt; in its upper part, there is a half-timbered superstructure from the 18th-19th century. It is topped with a pitched roof. The most interesting element of Dom Opata is a two-part portal with profiled reveals, which is located in the western wall.
In the first half of the 16th century, after the liquidation of the Cistercian order, Dom Opata was intended for a summer residence of Pomeranian dukes. In 1721, the building was seized by the leaseholder of the estate. It was rebuilt in the 18th and the 19th century – the modernization included interior arrangement, a roof truss and roofing; some elements characteristic of Gothic were also removed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the building fell into disrepair, but already before the war it was refurbished and used as a seat of a district court and judge’s flat. During the Second World War, the building was inhabited by hired workers, and when the war was over, the house was transferred to a state-owned farm, and then to the Zootechnical Testing Plant.
In the second half of the 1980s, Dom Opata was renovated. Nowadays, the building houses a communal library, Internet café and a post office. The building is open from 11 am to 7 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and from 8 am to 4 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays. At weekends, the institutions located in Dom Opata are closed.

Drinking water

Głaz Grońskiego

Głaz Krajoznawców w Puszczy Bukowej, Kołowo gm. Stare Czarnowo

Kościół filialny pw. Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego

Kościół parafialny pw. Najświętszej Rodziny

Kościół parafialny pw. MB Wspomożenia Wiernych

Kościół parafialny pw. św. Stanisława BM

Lisica

Recreational area in the center of Rekowo

Rest area

Rezerwat przyrody Buczynowe Wąwozy im. prof. Floriana Celińskiego
Rezerwat Buczynowe Wąwozy został utworzony 30 maja 1956 r. Na początku obejmował 65,18 ha, jednak w 1964 r. zmniejszono jego powierzchnię do 39,94 ha, by w 2005 r. powiększyć ją do 56,38 ha. Patronem rezerwatu jest prof. dr hab. Florian Celiński (1924-2001), wybitny geobotanik, który proponował utworzenie parku narodowego w Puszczy Bukowej. Jego praca habilitacyjna również dotyczyła tego miejsca: „Zespoły leśne Puszczy Bukowej pod Szczecinem”.
Buczynowe Wąwozy to rezerwat leśny na bardzo urozmaiconym pod względem rzeźby terenie. Znajdują się tu strome zbocza porośnięte żyzną buczyną niżową, zaś na najbardziej nachylonych stokach występuje buczyna kwaśna. Gatunkiem lokalnie charakterystycznym jest żywiec cebulkowy. W dolinach przeważają łęgi olszowe z olszą czarną, trzmieliną zwyczajną, klonem jaworem, głogiem czy jesionem wyniosłym. Gatunkami charakterystycznymi są między innymi skrzyp leśny i czartawa drobna. Najpiękniejszy łęg znajduje się nad Potokiem Kłobuckim.
Celem ochrony jest zachowanie cennych siedlisk rzadkich i chronionych roślin naczyniowych (133 gatunki), mszaków (51 gatunków) i grzybów (165 gatunków). Wśród nich są między innymi kruszczyk siny, gwiazdnica bagienna, marzanka wonna, przylaszczka pospolita, szczaw gajowy, żankiel zwyczajny, bielistka siwa, soplówka bukowa, czy szyszkowiec łuskowaty i smolucha bukowa. Poza tym na terenie rezerwatu gnieździł się także bocian czarny. Od dawna jednak już nie był obserwowany. Prawdopodobnie opuścił ten teren ze względu na wycinkę drzew w pobliżu rezerwatu. Wciąż można spotkać jednak inne rzadkie ptaki, jak dzięcioł czarny, siniak i muchołówka mała.
Aby móc poznać lepiej rezerwat można się wybrać żółtym Szlakiem Buczynowych Wąwozów. Prowadzi on wzdłuż wschodniej granicy rezerwatu, Drogą Bieszczadzką w dolinie Potoku Kłobuckiego.

Rezerwat przyrody Kołowskie Parowy im. inż. Józefa Lewandowskiego

Rezerwat przyrody Osetno
Rezerwat przyrody Osetno został utworzony 14 listopada 2008 r. i obejmuje powierzchnię 111,59 ha. Osetno jest rezerwatem leśnym, ale jednocześnie jednym z pierwszych w Polsce rezerwatów mikologicznych, czyli chroniących rzadkie i zagrożone wyginięciem gatunki grzybów. Występuje tu co najmniej 240 gatunków grzybów, z czego 7 jest prawnie chronionych, a 53 gatunki należą do rzadkich i zagrożonych wyginięciem. Najważniejszym celem ochrony jest zachowanie grzybów kapeluszowych, występujących w lasach i borach z dużym udziałem rozkładającego się drewna. Sprzyja ono bardzo rozwojowi różnorodnej mikroflory. Znajdują się tu stanowiska bardzo rzadkich grzybów żylaka kolczatego i gąski czarnołuskowej.
W rezerwacie Osetno spotkać można różne formacje leśne, buczyny, łęgi, olsy źródliskowe, a także torfowiska i oczka wodne. Rzeźba terenu jest bardzo urozmaicona, dzięki czemu krajobraz jest bardzo malowniczy. Poza tym znajduje się tutaj ostoja rzadkich gatunków ptaków. Spotkać można między innymi bielika, kanię rudą czy muchołówkę małą.
Na grzybobranie nie można się tu wybrać, ale dla amatorów pieszych wędrówek udostępniony jest niebieski Szlak im. Bolesława Czwójdzińskiego. Prowadzi ze Szczecina Klęskowa przez Arboretum w Glinnej, Dobropole Gryfińskie do Kępy Bukowej pod Cisewem.

Rezerwat przyrody Trawiasta Buczyna im. prof. Stefana Kownasa

Self-service bicycle repair station

Staw Cysterski

Staw Klasztorny

Szczecin Dąbie Station
The Szczecin Dąbie railway station was built just three years after the main station, in 1846. It is the largest station on the right bank of the city.
The Szczecin Dąbie railway station is located in the right-bank district of Szczecin, Dąbie, at Stacyjna Street.
Szczecin Dąbie railway station is the largest station on the right bank of Szczecin. It was built in 1846 during the construction of the Szczecin Główny - Stargard Szczeciński railway line. The station building houses ticket offices where you can pay by card, a kiosk, a bar, and toilets. There are three platforms from which passenger trains depart. A footbridge has been built over the tracks. All trains passing through the station stop here, except for express trains heading towards Świnoujście.
Szczecin Dąbie Railway Station - departures, arrivals, information

Szczecin Zdroje Station
Szczecin Zdroje Railway Station - departures, arrivals, information

Szczecin Zdunowo Station
Szczecin Zdunowo railway station – departures, arrivals, information

The Dendrological Garden
The Dendrological Garden (an arboretum) in Glinna includes 6 acres of forested hills. As early as 1823, private tree and shrub nurseries, which are the origin of a garden, were established there. They were taken over by the Śmierdnica forest inspectorate in 1870. A lot of exotic trees also appeared then. Initially, they were only ornamental, but their adaptation to our climate was started to be observed later on. The dendrological garden was mentioned for the first time in 1911, and 51 exotic species of trees and shrubs were recorded in 1938. Until the 1970s, only cleanup and maintenance works had been performed, by which the number of species has dropped to 23. In recent decades, however, State Forests and the Arboretum of Warsaw University of Life Sciences have developed a garden in Rogów where numerous maintenance jobs have been made and new trees have been planted. There is a unique microclimate of sunny southern slopes of the Bukowe Hills, and the place is additionally sheltered from north winds by a forest wall. This makes there are very favourable conditions for the acclimatisation of plants. Currently, You can already find over 600 exotic species. The most valuable ones include Poland's biggest specimen of the giant sequoia, but already dead due to freezing; as well as a grand fir, noble fir and shagbark hickory. Besides, there are sweet chestnuts, London plane, Canadian hemlock, Sawara cypress, bald cypress, Atlantic white cypress - the largest in Poland, 24 species of maples, 10 species of magnolia, 5 species of stewartia and numerous species and varieties of holly.
The Dendrological Garden is open to the public from 15th March to October from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Mon-Fri) and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Sat-Sun). Tickets are available at the box office at the entrance to the Garden and cost PLN 2 for children and adolescents, and PLN 4 for adults. There is a car park nearby, and a shelter with a fireplace, tables and benches for about 70 people. At the back, there is a playground with a swing, rockers, a slide. On the edge of the forest, there is a gazebo with a fireplace and seats. You can order wood for the fireplace from foresters. In the Garden itself, there are many paths with numerous resting places. Each particular specimen has its plate with the name, description and place of occurrence of the species. Due to the very large number of species, not all trees are marked. Enthusiasts can try to figure out the names of these specimens on their own. In some places, boards are placed describing various issues related to the life of trees and shrubs. The Gryfino Forest Inspectorate, the guardian of the Garden, also provides environmental education, not only for children and adolescents. It is worth visiting the arboretum at different times of a year, because You will notice the whole beauty of the garden.

The former Cistercian Abbey
The Cistercians were brought to Kołbacz from Denmark at the end of the 12th century by the castellan form Szczecin - Warcisław Świętoborzyc. They specialised in farming and they helped to enhance the development of the village and contributed to creation of many, important facilities in the village. The abbey in Kołbacz, was the first Cistercian abbey in Pomerania.
In Kołbacz, the monks erected the abbey, the church, the farming facilities and later even the fortifications. A big, Roman-Gothic church was built in the centre of the village (between 1210 and 1347). The construction is one of the first buildings made of brick in Western Pomerania, and one of the oldest sacral buildings in Poland. The church was a three-nave basilica. It, together with the remaining buildings of the abbey, formed a huge quadrangle with a big yard. Until now, from the whole complex, only the church and the converses’ house have been preserved.
After the Reformation in 1534, the time of the Cistercians in Kołbacz was over. A summer residence of the dukes of Szczecin was created in the village. Then, the church fell into ruin. In 1662, lightning struck the tower of the temple, and as a result the whole roof burned down. In the 17th century, the facility was renovated – the side naves were dismantled, and the central nave was transformed into a granary. In the middle of the 19th century, the church was renovated again. These days, only the presbytery and the transept are used for sacral purposes, the remaining part of the temple is used as a warehouse.
Also the house of converses has remained on the territory of the Cistercian complex. Converses were monks, whose main task was to perform the hardest physical work. The Converses’ home was made of red brick in the 13th century. It was renovated in the 17th and the 18th centuries. In the 1970’s it was modernised and it started to serve as a Community Centre. Nowadays, it owned by the Agricultural Academy in Cracow, which leases it as a restaurant.
From many farm buildings, which were built by the monks, only the Gothic barn, which used to serve as a sheepfold, has been preserved to date. This brick construction was erected in the 15th century, and in the 18th and the 19th centuries it was rebuilt. The Gothic barn is the only such facility in Pomerania and even in Poland. It is still used, these days as a warehouse.
On the territory of the old abbey, the Abbot’s House can be found, which was renovated in the 1980’s. This 13th-century construction is made of red brick and has Gothic windows and ornamented blinds. On the top of the building we will find a timber-framed upper storey addition which was built in the 17th and the 19th centuries. Currently, the building is occupied by the municipal library, the Internet Café and the post office.
The last preserved element, which used to belong to the abbey, is the prison tower made of red brick. The tower was located approximately 100 meters from the church, and it is the only remaining part of the former fortification. It is unique because it is the only reminder of the abbey’s fortification system in Poland.
Fortifications were necessary because the wealthy clergymen were often attacked by raiders, who tried to steal their goods, but also because of their conflicts with the Brandenburg and Barmin I.

The Former Converses’ Refectory
The Cistercian order was brought to Kołbacz in the late 12th century. In the years 1210-1347, due to the monks such buildings as a monastery, a church, farm buildings, and fortifications were erected.
To the western side of the church, there is a wing adjacent, known as Dom Konwersów [the Converses’ House]. Converses were friars without holy orders, whose principal task was not a prayer but physical labour. They were used for hard works, and usually have no right to fully participate in the order’s life.
Dom Konwersów was erected in the 13th century and then rebuilt in the 17th and the 8th century. It is a low building with small windows in the walls. The lower part of the house consists of a stone wall; the entire building was built of red brick.
The foundations of the building most likely housed rooms used for storing comestibles. In the upper part of the building the converses’ refectory was located.
In the 1970s, the house was restored. The local agricultural Testing Plant, which was involved in the modernization of the house, added a storey and an extension, intending to turn the entire building into a restaurant. In the building, an old baking stove has been preserved. What is interesting is an “eternally wet wall” in one of the rooms. There is a legend known in Kołbacz, which explains the phenomenon of a “weeping wall”.
According to the legend, once upon a time an orphaned boy lived in Dąbie located a few kilometres away. The boy was taken in by a miller and was used for the hardest works in a mill. But when the boy fell in requited love with a daughter of the estate’s owner, he was beaten by him and thrown out of the farm. Unhappily in love, the boy went to the Cistercian order in Kołbacz. A few years later, the young man came back to Dąbie along with friars, but his meeting with his beloved one ended just like the first time. The boy was beaten up once again. After the incident, he returned to the monastery and locked himself in his cell, without the will to live on. He was allegedly absorbed by the wall which is still wet from his tears.
Nowadays, the building belongs to the University of Agriculture in Cracow, which leases it for catering purposes. Next to the built, we can find a boulder with a plaque that commemorates “the 40th anniversary of the return of West Pomerania to the motherland”. Dom Konwersów has been entered into the provincial register of historic monuments, along with the Gothic barn and the prison tower in 1955.

The Gothic Barn
The Cistercian order was brought to Kołbacz in the late 12th century. Monks specialized in agriculture, they stimulated the village in terms of economy and contributed to the construction of the most important buildings. In the years 1210-1347, due to the monks such buildings as a monastery, a church, farm buildings, and fortifications were erected. From the mediaeval complex of monastic buildings, only a few have survived up to this day. We can see the church, Dom Opata [the Abbot’s House], the converses’ refectory, the prison tower, and the Gothic barn.
The interesting fact is that the barn only has been preserved from numerous buildings that used to be located within the area of the order. The barn was built in the mid-14th century on a rectangular plan as a sheep shed. The building was rebuilt in the 18th-19th century. Most likely, the barn had had pointed arcades, which were walled off to form small windows.
The building was built of red brick. It is buttressed; its façade is divided with lancet blind windows; in the upper part, we can find a fragment of later Prussian walls supporting the gabled roof. The interior, however, and elements for supporting a vault suggest that the building was intended to have a vault. The Gothic barn is the only such building in Pomerania and a Poland-wide phenomenon. The building is still being used – nowadays, it serves the function of a storehouse.
Despite many attacks that was carried out on the monks (the wealth of the monks was quite tempting; in addition, the order was frequently involved in various sort of arguments, for example with the Brandenburgians or duke Barnim I. The building survived to our times in an intact condition. It was entered into the register of historic monuments ten years after the end of the Second World War. In April 1955, it was entered into this register along with the prison tower and the converses’ refectory.

The Szczecin Landscape Park "Puszcza Bukowa" ['the Beech Forest']
The Szczecin Landscape Park Puszcza Bukowa was established by Resolution No. IX 55/81 of the Provincial Council in Szczecin on 4th November 1981. But the history of the protection of this area is much longer. What was established there in 1940 was Landschaftschutzgebiet. The first nature reserves, among other things, Bukowe Zdroje [the Beech Waters] and the Kołowskie Parowy [the Kołów Ravines]. Steps to create a landscape park were taken in the 1970s, which did not end until 1981. The park covers an area of ​​9096 hectares, including 6742 hectares of forest and forest land, as well as 1,616 hectares of farmland at: the Binowo Clearing, the Kołowo Clearing and the Dobropole Clearing, and between the southern border of forests and Glinna Lake, Leniwe Lake and Dereń Lake. There is a Forest Park 'Zdroje' with Szmaragdowe Lake. Currently, there are 7 reserves: Buczynowe Wąwozy [the Beech Gorges], Bukowe Zdroje [Beech Baths], Kołowskie Parowy [the Kołowo Ravines], Osetno, Trawiasta Buczyna [the Grassy Beech Forest], Zdroje [the Baths] and Źródliskowa Buczyna [the Beech Headwaters]. Puszcza Bukowa [the Beech Forest] grows on glacial moraine called Wzgorza Bukowe [the Beech Hills]. The highest peak is Bukowiec Mount with a height of 148.4 m above sea level. Height differences can approx. 100 m. The specific geological structure means that there are many springs, watercourses and disappearing streams (the Ponikwa, the Utrata). Landscape is dotted with meandering streams such as the Chojnówka or the Rudzianka, depressions filled with water or peat, as well as picturesque lakes such as Glinna Lake, Binowskie Lake, or Piasecznik Wielki Lake.
Puszcza Bukowa [the Beech Forest] has a very interesting mosaic of habitats, resulting from the varied terrain. It is dominated by forests, mostly beech ones, but also riparian, alder and oak forest occupy large areas. Besides, You can find there very interesting, sometimes also extremely rare, marsh plants on the peat bogs, water plants in the lakes and meadow plants on the slopes and in river valleys. It is also interesting that mushrooms, for example giant puffball, coral tooth, cauliflower mushroom, or parasitic bolete are also protected. One of the first mycological (protecting fungi) reserves in Poland, Osetno, was founded in the Park in 2008. Various habitats means suitable refuges for animals. Among the larger mammals, You can encounter deer, wild boar and roe. Several species of birds of prey such as white-tailed eagle, lesser spotted eagle, red kite, marsh harrier have their breeding grounds there.
It is worth taking a walk or going on a bike ride on one of the numerous trails created in the Szczecin Landscape Park. Nor can You overlook the Dendrological Garden in Glinna and Szmaragdowe Lake that formed itself in an old chalk and marl mine workings. The city of Szczecin and the small villages scattered in Puszcza Bukowa also offer a lot of attractions.

Winnica Jassa

Wzgórza Bukowe