Kolbacz Abbey

Description

The Kołbacz Abbey was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1173 with the original Latin name 'Mera Vallis'. The monks were invited into Pomerania by Warcisław II Świętoborzyc, a castellan of Szczecin, as part of an agreement with Valdemar I of Denmark, who had besieged Szczecin and made Warcisław his vassal. The first monks originally arrived from the Danish Esrum Abbey. The foundation was affirmed by Duke Bogusław I in 1173. The first abbot was Reinhold and the abbey began its activities in 1174. The wealth of the Abbey was based on banking, as much as land ownership.

Currently it is the site of an agricultural complex near Szczecin, which partly houses the Zoological Experimental Institute of the Kraków Technical Institute.