Stargard: City Walls, Museum and Culture
Accommodation in Stargard
City history in its walls and museum
Stargard’s St. Mary’s Church and medieval city walls were recognized as a Monument of History by a regulation issued by the President of the Republic of Poland on September 17, 2010. The city walls are among the few examples of medieval fortifications in West Pomerania where defensive gates and bastions have been preserved along almost the entire length. The focus is therefore not just on a single structure, but on a largely intact line of fortifications.
File:Ratusz Miejski w Stargardzie - Nr rejestru zabytku A-1475+A1469.jpg
Photo: Małgorzata Jakubowska via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A museum exhibition in Stargard presents the city’s history from its founding in the 13th century to the beginning of the 18th century. Its timeline thus spans the Middle Ages to the early modern period, complementing the view of the surviving walls and St. Mary’s Church with the city’s development over several centuries.
Festivals and routes through Stargard
The historical festival “In the Land of the Griffin” has been organized since 2014 by the Archaeological-Historical Museum in Piast Park, near the bastion, as part of Stargard Days. It is considered an event for whole families, history enthusiasts and people looking to spend an active weekend in June.
For exploring the Old Town, there is the “Stargard – Jewel of Pomerania” walking route, which runs through the Old Town and is about 3 kilometers long. A different perspective is offered by the red cycling route “Through the Drumlins of the Stargard Region.” It runs from Stargard via Lipnik, Zieleniewo, Morzyczyn, Grzędzice, Żarowo, Rogowo and Lubowo, before returning to Stargard. The main difference is the route: the walking trail stays within the Old Town, while the cycling route connects several named places and ends back in Stargard.
Places in the surrounding area
Pęzino lies about 13 kilometers east of Stargard, at the confluence of the Pęzinka and Krąpiel rivers. Pęzino Castle is considered one of the best-preserved residential and defensive buildings in Pomerania. The Knights Hospitaller built it in its original form around the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. Its riverside location and history give the site a different character from Stargard’s city walls and exhibition.
Koszewo, on the eastern shore of Lake Miedwie, has an unguarded bathing area and is about 15 kilometers from Stargard. The surrounding area therefore offers a lakeside attraction as well as historic buildings. The bathing area’s unguarded status is a specific feature.
Landscape and architectural history of Gmina Stargard
Gmina Stargard also forms part of the region’s landscape: its western part lies in the Pyrzycka Plain, and its eastern part in the Nowogardzka Plain. Lake Miedwie, one of Poland’s five largest lakes, lies in the west of the municipality. In the eastern part, the Ina River and its tributaries, the Krąpiel and Mała Ina, flow through the area.
A geological feature in Gmina Stargard is the 4.7-hectare Ozy Kiczarowskie reserve. Established in 1962, it lies south of Kiczarowo on Road 149 between Stargard and Chociwel. The inanimate nature reserve comprises glacial sands and gravels that form ridge-like ridges and elongated hills. Here, geological features take center stage rather than the history of urban fortifications.
The buildings in Gmina Stargard also represent different periods. Barzkowice Castle is an eclectic 19th-century building, expanded in 1911, with Neoclassical and Neo-Renaissance motifs. In Poczernin stands the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, built from fieldstones in the 15th century, with a wooden tower cupola dating from 1850. It preserves a late Gothic altar with a 16th-century crucifix, as well as three Gothic portals. The wall paintings in Grzędzice are among the most unique and oldest in West Pomerania.
Discover more destinations: Insko, Dobrzany, Stargard Szczeciński, Rekowo, Żukowo, Rogowo, Granica, Morzyczyn, Chociwel, Koszewko, Oświno, Brudzewice, Pęzino, Sowno.
For the broader travel overview: West Pomerania.
