The Cistercian monastery in Obra was founded between the years 1231and 1237 and also 1238. Its founder was Sedziwoj, a canon and cantor from Gniezno and a member of the Jeleni Nialkow family, who in 1231, donated part of his estate for this purpose.
FEATURES, ORIGINS, VALUES AND LEGAL PROTECTION
Since 1926, the post-Cistercian buildings in Obra were adopted by the Assembly of the Missionary Oblates of Mary the Immaculate. In January 1940, the Oblates priests were deported by the Nazis to concentration camps and the church was closed. They returned to Obra by the spring of 1945 and have remained there to this day. The post-monastery buildings today house the Higher Spiritual Seminary as well as the Mission Museum of the Missionary Oblates and the post-Cistercian treasury. Between 1981 and 1990, the seminary was expanded and the renovated basement of the church was opened to the public. Currently, the post-Cistercian church now serves as a parish church dedicated to the Apostle St James the Greater. This is a late-baroque building, built in the years between 1722 and 1757 with a rich rococo interior. The crypt is decorated with a late Baroque polychrome from 1753 and 1754, painted by the Poznan artist, Stanislaw Brzozowski. It depicts events from the history of the Cistercian order, scenes from the life of St. Bernard and the Virgin Mary, God the Father, Christ as the judge and the Trinity surrounded by Cistercian saints. Under the church are underground crypts that have been opened to the public, which conceal the coffins with the ashes of Cistercian monks and local lay benefactors of the monastery.
TOUR ORGANISER
The Parish of the Apostle St James the Greater
Ul Szkolna 12
64-211 Obra
Phone: +48 68 384 12 23
e-mail: wsd@oblaci.pl
ACCESSIBILITY OF FACILITIES BY VISITORS
Dates and opening hours:
Underground tour is available from Monday till Friday, between 13:00 and 17:00 and during July and August, between 09:00 and 18:00 with prior arrangement at the gates of the monastery and at least 3 days in advance, by telephone or in person, between 08:00 and 12:00 and between 13:15 and 17:00.
The route is electrically illuminated.
The site is not suitable for people with physical disabilities.
Sightseeing is unaccompanied but there is an option of a guided tour of the entire Church complex, but then a voluntary donation to the church is requested.
We recommend comfortable, athletic shoes and warm clothing in the summer.
Appropriate dress is recommended for places of worship.
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