Benedictine Abbey

Lonely Planet review

A distant suburb of Kraków, 12km southwest of the centre, Tyniec is the site of the Benedictine Abbey dramatically perched on a cliff above the Vistula. The Benedictines came to Poland in the second half of the 11th century, and it was in Tyniec that they established their first base. The original Romanesque church and the monastery were destroyed and rebuilt in the 14th and 18th centuries.

Today the church is essentially a Baroque building, though the stone foundations and the lower parts of the walls, partly uncovered and behind protected glass to the west of the church, show its earlier origins.You enter the complex through a pair of defensive gates, resembling the entrance to a castle, and find yourself in a large courtyard. To the southwest is an octagonal wooden pavilion, which protects a stone well dating from 1620.

The monastery itself, home to 40 monks, cannot be visited but the church is open to all. Behind a sober façade, the dark interior is fitted out with a mix of Baroque and Rococo furnishings; up to the left are the remnants of early wall paintings. The organ is plain but has a beautiful tone, and concerts are held here in summer. Have a look at the exuberant Rococo pulpit.

The monastery runs a bookshop, a restaurant and the Galeria Benedyktyńska, a café and shop stocked with the monks' own products including honey, jams, cheeses and (from the Pannonhalma Benedictine Monastery in Hungary) even wine.

To reach the abbey, take bus 112 from the Rondo Grunwaldzkie, the roundabout on the west side of Grunwald Bridge.