Significant values are represented by the axial arrangement of the residential and church complex - a feature that is distinctive for the Late Baroque complexes.

History of the structure

The Stary Dworek Village belonged to an area handed over to the Cistercian Order (initially from the Lusatian Dobry Ług, later from Zemsko and Bledzew) by Władysław Odonic around 1232. The first written mention of the village comes form 1560, when the abbots’ residence was established here. The first abbot who resided in Stary Dworek was Piotr Mitręga from Lwówek. The first, most probably wooden, seat was destroyed in a fire in 1670. Some historical sources provide that in 1705 abbot Józef Gurowski erected a new manor house. The current manor house dates back to around 1770. It was erected in the period of activity of abbots Józef Loka and Franciszek Rogaliński. The seat of abbots functioned until the secularisation of church and monastery estates, i.e. until the early 19th century. The last abbot residing in Stary Dworek was Onufry Wierzbiński, who exchanged the estate in Rokitno with the Prussian lessor, Bornemann. From that time, the residence was leased as a state-owned domain. In 1836 the Cistercian Order in Bledzew was dissolved and the remaining buildings were demolished several years later, except for the residence in Stary Dworek. During a redevelopment in 1886 carried out by the administrator named Hecker, the façades of the manor house were diversified by impressive wall dormers. In that period a manor farm complex was extended by demolishing a pronounced entrance gate and - at the turn of the 20th century - the manor park was rearranged as well. After 1945 the manor house was taken over by the State Agricultural Farm to serve the administrative and residential purposes. The structure underwent full-scale renovation in the years 1969-1970. Since 1980 the building has remained unused. In 2002 it was sold and remains private property. Today, the building is in a state of ruin.

Site description

The manor house is situated in the central part of the village, west of the main road.

A manor courtyard is located on its east side, framed by utility buildings on three sides. On the west side, there is a former park overgrowing a steep bank descending towards the meander of the Obra river. A church situated on the manor house axis is a compositionally linked element. The manor house is a single-storey Baroque structure, made of brick, set on an elongated rectangular floor plan, diversified by projections in the middle of longer façades and covered with a hipped roof. Two-storey projections are surmounted with a gable roof. The façades are crowned with a profiled cornice and the corners are embraced with pilasters. The front, east façade is the most representational one. It features a three-axial avant-corps accentuated by pilasters, arranged diagonally on the ground floor, thus creating a concave-and-convex line. The avant-corps is crowned with a triangular tympanum with stone, Rococo vases in the corners and on the gable. The building is in a very poor technical condition - the roof truss has collapsed, fragments of the walls are damaged and exhibit multiple cracks.  

Visitor access. Limited access to the historic building. Private property – the building can only be viewed from the outside.

Author of the note: compiled by Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra, 05-12-2017

Bibliography

• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. 3, Zielona Góra 2013, p. 229;
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, p. 354;
• Zamki, dwory i pałace województwa lubuskiego, Bielinis-Kopeć B. (ed.), Zielona Góra 2007, pp. 294-296.