History

The results of archaeological research conducted in 1960s allowed for the reconstruction of the plans of the first buildings.  Relics were discovered revealing the unique work of the 11-century builders. The church was a three-aisled, pillared basilica. From the east it ended  in a square chancel (presbytery) terminated with an apse flanked by two little apses enclosing the side-aisle chapels. The chapels were lengthened towards the west and in this way a so-called low transept was created. The western part of the church is formed by a central tower and two annexes through  its sides, ones open to the interior of the side aisles. The entrances to the church were probably placed in the walls of the side aisles, by their last span. There were two crypts in the basilica – beneath the chancel and in the lowest floor of the tower. The eastern crypt was relatively shallow  and consequently was fitted with windows illuminating its interior. As a result of the creation of such a shallow crypt the whole area above it, i.e., the chancel, was raised by 2.5 meters. Access was afforded by stairs from the aisle. The entrance to both crypts was from the staircases located in the southern aisle. The whole eastern part of the church (the apse, chancel, and chapels forming the low transept) was lower than the main body of the church; something borne out by the preserved relics. The western part and the whole building was dominated by the tower. According to academics, the two-choir plan is reminiscent  of  solutions employed along the Meuse valleys. From the south the church was adjoined by a three-winged cloister, and in this way the buildings formed a quadrangle around the garth. The garden was surrounded by cloisters. In the monastery buildings there was also the monks’ joint dormitory area, their dining room – the refectory and  meeting place of the whole community – the chapterhouse.

Mogilno Abbey was a unique and important point on the map of medieval Poland; for it had been entrusted  with an exceptionally responsible task – to organise and support Christianity. A visible trace of this work was the non-existent  Benedictine Abbey at Płock, supported by the monks from Mogilno.

In the late 12th century, due to the growing number of monks and the need to provide support for places under its jurisdiction, the abbey underwent change. The monastery was rebuilt and enlarged and the Benedictines became the owners of the lands under  the original settlement. Consequently the inhabitants moved to the other side of the lake, where the future town of Mogilno was to be established. The monastery and the new settlement developed simultaneously until the early 13th century. In 1206 the abbey witnessed its  first crisis. This was the time a  fierce conflict broke out between Władysław III Spindleshanks and Archbishop Henryk Kietlicz. The Archbishop, a supporter of the new reformatory tendencies within the Church, tried to obtain immunity for  Church goods. His undertakings became a source of conflict. In spite of his strong position Kietlicz was unable to retain his high office and was banned from Greater Poland by the duke. The Archbishop's supporters, including the monks from Mogilno, were also banished. The intervention of regional dukes and the pope was to seethe conflict resolved two years later – the monks returned to the abbey and the Archbishop revoked his anathema. But this was not to be the end of the disasters plaguing the monastery, for in 1225 or 1230 Władysław Odonic, during the struggles with his uncle Władysław Spindleshanks, raided and destroyed the abbey. The state of the buildings and the church after these events was so bad that in the second half of the 13th century rebuilding was started again. The church was enlarged and the area around the monastery enclosed by a wall. During these modifications a hypocaust stove was built to heat the dormitory and the abbot's chambers.

As a result of the monks' efforts Władysław Jagiełło bestowed in 1398 civic rights on the city  in line with Magdeburg law. The development of the town was favourable to the growth of the abbey and from the 13th to the 16th century further changes were introduced. Gothic bricklayers raised the walls of the church aisles using the new building material which was brick. At that time equally the eastern part of the building was, to a large extent, rebuilt. The crypt’s spatial disposition, the ceiling of which was considerably lowered and formed as if a cradle, was also altered. With the modifications in the lowest floor level in this part of the church, the chancel was also rebuilt. This was levelled with the floor of the main aisle. During this rebuilding process the shape of the eastern part of the church was modified as well. Some of the Romanesque stone walls of the chapels, including the little apses, were pulled down and replaced by brick walls. The walls of the northern aisle were also re-erected and moved to the line of the Romanesque chapel. The space and interior layout of the southern chapel and aisle were preserved. The walls of the main apse were also built over  and crowned with a blind brick  arcade. The church windows were given a new gothic shape. Not until the first half of the 16th century was the ceiling of the nave in its entirety and presbytery   modified to a stellar vault and that of the side isles – to diamond vaults. It was also at that time that a part of the church interiors were covered with polychromes. And  the eastern and southern wing of the monastery buildings underwent a rebuilding.

In the early 17th century the church was given an organ casing with a characteristic late Renaissance style balustrade. The next rebuilding and modifications of the church took place in the 18th century. Apart from modifying the Gothic style of the monastery to that of the Baroque and the construction of the western wing, a gate leading to the abbey was additionally built in the wall surrounding the buildings. The biggest changes were made in the western part of the church. the Romanesque tower was pulled down and replaced with a two-tower facade, broader than the main body of the church, built in the years 1793-1797. In its lower part a vestibule was added in front of the facade.  In the upper, central part of the facade a gothic window was rebuilt with everything crowned in a Baroque top. In order to emphasise the vertical splits of the facade pilasters were used and the horizontal sections were marked by cornices. The windows were enlarged and given a Baroque form. In the 18th century the church’s fittings and décor were also modified. A new main altar was introduced, as well as several side altars and choir stalls. In the apse a semi-circular architectural altar with sculptures of Benedictine saints was set. The side altars, probably made in the late 18th century, represent St Benedict (the northern altar) and St Scholastica (the southern altar). The interior is completed by a pulpit and choir stalls built in the years 1760-1770.

Multiple changes in the town’s privileges did not affect the relationship between Mogilno and the abbey. No sooner than  1776 was the town of Mogilno, including the Benedictine Abbey, joined to Prussia. From the early 19th century a gradual decline in the monastery has taken place. In 1816 the Prussian government took the abbey's land  and dissolved the novitiate. In 1833 the official dissolution of the monastery took place, the church was given to the Catholic parish and the monastery buildings – to a Lutheran parish. In 1880 a hospital was organised at the monastery. The beginning of the new century witnessed some quite important changes in the church’s interior. Around the year 1900 the church was presented with a new organ installed in the late-Renaissance organ casing. Modification  of the lowest area of the western part took place when the lower sections of the tower were turned into chapels to mark the Holy Year 1900. Work on the chapels continued until 1913, when finally a sail vault was constructed over the northern premises . The initiator of the changes was the parish priest, Rev. Piotr Wawrzyniak.

The year 1913 was very important for the church’s history. Not only was Wiktor Gosieniecki entrusted with making Art Nouveau polychromes of the rainbow arch and the presbytery, but first and foremost the Romanesque western crypt was uncovered. As a result support work was conducted, wherein the blocks of the central Romanesque pillar were replaced and the original communication routes connecting the crypts with the church interior were modified. The crypts were connected with an underground passage and their entrances were located in the southern aisle of the church.

Since 1918 the monastery buildings have seen a change of inhabitants several times. Initially they constituted shelter for mothers, later  a school was located there. The most turbulent moments took place during the Second World War, when first resettled Poles, then English prisoners-of-war and resettled Jewish women were kept within the monastery's walls. In 1943 it was turned into a German field hospital.

Vicissitudes affected the buildings’ condition;  after the war it becoming state property. It was not until 1998 that the former abbey returned to  the Church. The “Adalbert” European Meeting Place was created in the monastery buildings, based on the idea of Archbishop Henryk Muszyński and realised by the parish priest Rev. Andrzej Panasiuk. The Benedictines, exiled by the Prussian authorities, never returned but thanks to the efforts of the Church authorities at the beginning of 2014  Mogilno Abbey became the home of the Friars Minor Capuchin.