Ostrow Tumski in Poznan

Ostrów Tumski in Poznan is an island on the Warta River within the city walls. It is surrounded by two arms of the River – the bigger one called Warta and the smaller one called Cybina or Kanal Ulgi. This place is an oasis of peace and silence in the centre of noisy Poznan. It is the place where the first in Poland episcopate came into being and where first Polish rulers are buried.

The most important monument on Ostrów is the Cathedral – a Gothic Archicathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul. Moreover, on the island there are also other places worth visiting like the Archiepiscopal Palace, Lubransky Academy or the Archdiocesan Museum.

An important and valuable monument here is also Psalteria – a late-Gotic building, built around 1518, built by order of Poznan bishop – Jan Lubranski. This building, as one of sparse monuments on Ostrów Tumski, escaped serious damage during past centuries.

In western part of Ostrów Tumski there is the Church of the Holy Virgin. In its present shape it was built in the middle of 15th century, although its history begins around 965 when a castle chapel was built here. Modern research suggests that under the sanctuary there are foundations of rotunda functioning as a chapel. It has, however, been proved that under the temple there are fragments of Mieszko’s I palatium preserved.