The Basilica in Peplin, which is the most important part of the post-Cistercian-cathedral complex, is a priceless sacral monument. The building is one of the largest brick temples of the Gothic in Poland, and at the same time is one of the finest realisations of the ideals established by Cistercian architecture. Successive builders consistently tried to maintain harmony of lines and proportions, creating a monumental, but at the same time modest and simplified facility.
The whole Basilica is saturated with beauty of this harmony that is especially prominent in one of the most beautiful sacred spaces in Poland, which is the northern arm of the transept (Chapel of the Holy Sacrament), crowned with a magnificent crystal vault.
However, the Basilica is not only a heritage of Cistercian architecture. For centuries, the Monastery had enriched it with valuable works of art – the temple contains, among others,
a beautiful Mannerist Main Altar, the largest altar in Poland and one of the largest in Europe, the interiors decorated with Gothic and Renaissance stalls, as well as Baroque altars with unique paintings of great masters: Herman Han, Bartłomiej Strobel and Andrzej Stech.
The Basilica, as one of the most outstanding achievements of Gothic architecture, hiding the wealth of works of many centuries of sacred art, should be therefore an attractive point on the tourist map of Pomerania, attracting not only pilgrims but also all those interested in the cultural heritage of the region and country, and even Europe (especially because of the European Route of Brick Gothic). Unfortunately, the situation is completely inadequate to the rank of this place – the cathedral is visited only by more than ten thousand visitors
a year, and this number is constantly decreasing – in 2015 it was only 13 000 people.
In order to remedy this state of affairs, authorities created the project “Cathedral Basilica in Pelplin – renovation and opening of a new exhibition area”, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the European Regional Development Fund. Its primary objective is to protect and develop the cultural heritage of the Basilica by fully exploiting its potential that is unique in Poland and Europe. The large-scale project is focused on two basic areas – fundamental renovation of the church (renovation of external walls with modernisation of the drainage system and land development, renovation of the roof, its rafter framing and the tower, finally modernisation of the electrical installation, enabling the use of a new and better lightning system) and improving the tourist offer (creation of new exhibition areas in the attic and making the previously unexposed technical monuments accessible to visitors, modernisation of different forms of sightseeing, as well as renovation of other mobile monuments).
