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The Post-Cistercian Monastery Complex in Gościkowo-Paradyż
The history of the monastery in Paradyż
began on 29 January 1230, when Mikołaj
Bronisz, Voivode of Greater Poland,
donated nine villages and the settlement
of Gościkowo on the Paklica River to the
Cistercian Order from the Brandenburg
Abbey in Lehnin. The monks arrived in the
area six years later and gave the settlement
the name Paradisus Matris Dei (Paradise
of the Mother of God). They erected
wooden buildings including a chapel, and
around 1250 they started the construction
of a brick church, which was completed
in 1288. The church, built in Gothic style,
was consecrated in 1397.
In the following years, the abbey became
an important centre of intellectual life.
Many scholars were associated with it, the
most renowned of whom was James of
Paradyż, later a professor at the Academy
of Kraków. The abbey’s location on the
western fringes of the country meant that
the monastery was also of great political
importance. It also contributed to the
strengthening of the Polish character of
these lands. The monastery’s position was
also reflected in its economic development.
At the beginning of the 16th century,
the Paradyż estate comprised over 29,000
hectares of land, 4,000 hectares of forests and
21 villages.
The development of the abbey was halted
by the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), during
which it was raided by the Brandenburg
and Swedish armies. The destruction was
completed by a fire that broke out on 10 April
1633 and spread to the monastery buildings
and church. King Ladislav Vasa, who was
associated with Paradyż through his tutor,
Abbot Marek Łętowski, contributed to the
rebuilding of the monastery. In 1722, another
fire consumed a large part of the buildings.
The church was rebuilt in a late Baroque style.
After the second partition of Poland,
Paradyż found itself within the borders
of the Prussian state, whose authorities
confiscated the monastery property
in 1796 and liquidated the abbey in 1834.
Between 1836 and 1926, the buildings
housed the Royal Catholic Teachers’
Seminary. After the Second World War,
the complex was transferred to the
Catholic Church. It is now the seat of
the Zielona Góra and Gorzów Seminary
and the Sanctuary of Our Lady Carer
of Priestly Vocations.
Fr. Dariusz Mazurkiewicz