The building of high historical value, preserved in its original architectural form, is an interesting example of late Baroque architecture in Wielkopolska.

History of the structure

The history of the seminary dates back to the 13th century, when the first school was established at the monastery of Canons Regular (Benedictines) in Trzemeszno. According to recent archaeological research, the monastery existed as early as the 10th century and is considered one of the oldest on Polish lands. In the 15th century, a novitiate for future monks was established in the monastery. After years of breaks caused by wars, including the “Swedish deluge”, educational activities were resumed on the initiative of the abbot priest Michał Kosmowski. The concept of establishing a secondary school was formulated at a meeting of the monastery chapter on 22 February 1773. The six-class secondary school, called Collegium Tremesnesis, was public and provided free education for the local youth. The students’ parents only bore the cost of living. For the 12 students who wanted to dedicate themselves to monastic life, the abbot opened a seminary. To maintain the college and the seminary, a foundation was established, confirmed by the Pope in 1774 and 1775. The foundation maintained the school with the income from the following estates: Bieślin, Kamionek, Kozłówek, Ostrówek, Płaczkowo, Święte, and Targowica, and partly from monastery income, which was used to repair and maintain the buildings.   

The school statute approved by Pope Clement XVI in 1774, modelled on Piarist schools, implemented the curriculum developed by the Commission of National Education. The patrons of the school were King Stanislaw August Poniatowski and Primate Gabriel Podoski.

The school, built in the years 1773-1776, was opened on 4 May 1776. Rev. Kajetan Grochowski became the first rector. The school building was erected in the former monastery gardens. The spacious one-storey building housed eight classrooms, two kitchens, a dining room, a pantry, servants’ quarters, and toilets on the ground floor, and a large auditorium upstairs that served as a chapel, eight classrooms, and the bedrooms of the alumni and professors. Students were educated in the following subjects: religion, moral science, grammar, Latin, German and French, poetry, rhetoric, elements of geography and history, mathematics and physics. Graduates could continue their education at universities. Jędrzej Śniadecki, archaeologist Józef Przyborowski and poet Stefan Garczyński graduated from the college. As a token of appreciation, the school’s founder, Abbot M. Kosmowski, received the Order of St. Stanislaus from King Stanisław August Poniatowski in 1790. After the death of the abbot in 1804, the college and the seminary continued to function, and from 1833 it served as a lower gymnasium. After ten years it became a full Catholic gymnasium with a government seminary, the so-called Royal seminary. In 1859 the gymnasium was moved to a new building erected nearby. The school was closed in 1863 as a result of the participation of its alumni in the January Uprising. After reopening in 1866, it functioned as the Royal Co-Denominational School for Boys. In 1919, the State Classical Gymnasium was established there named after Bishop Michał Kosmowski. The seminary functioned until 1939. After the war it was used as a residential building with a chapel open to the public. In 1997, the roof truss of the building was repaired, and the roofing, downpipes, and roofing were replaced. The building was plastered in 2003.   

Description of the structure

The building of the seminary is located in the centre of Trzemeszno, on the southern frontage of Kosmowski Square. Facing the square, the building together with two adjacent driveway gates covers the entire width of the plot. The gate on the west side leads to the garden, while the east gate leads to the yard of the neighbouring building. The seminary has retained the plan, shape, construction, and materials from the time of its construction. The one-storey, free-standing, cellared building was built on a horseshoe-shaped plan, it consists of three rectangular wings, with a front courtyard separated from the square by a wall with a gate. In the axis of the middle wing from the garden side there is a square avant-corps with the width of the drive-through hallway. On the ground floor the hallway connects the front courtyard with the garden, while on the first floor above it there is a square chapel with a chancel situated in the avant-corps of the garden-facing elevation. The original interior layout has been preserved on the ground floor, with corridors on the courtyard side and larger rooms in the side wings of the building at the front. At the corners of the courtyard there are two staircases leading to the first floor. The building is made of ceramic brick, plastered, covered with a gable roof in the central part and with a triple-pitched roof over the side wings with characteristic curved slopes. All the planes are covered with roof tiles. In the garden-facing elevation a prominent avant-corps with arcades in the ground floor was covered with a lower triple-pitched roof topped with a cross. The staircases in the courtyard are covered by separate shed roofs. The front is formed by triaxial gable walls of two side wings and a tripartite decorative portal of the main gate situated in the building axis. The front elevation is accentuated by: a shallow plinth, a prominent under eaves cornice, plaster window surrounds and “mirrors” with ground floor and first floor windows. The gateway portal topped with a semi-circular arch is emphasized by a band and a pair of composite columns on which an entablature with a profiled cornice is set in the middle over a marble plaque. In the plaque, in accordance with the iconographic programme glorifying the king as the protector of science, there is a relief with the bust of king Stanisław August Poniatowski and the inscription “SCIENTIARUM SUPREMUS RESTAURATOR”. Below in a cartouche in a Rococo frame the king’s initials S(tanislaus) A(ugustus) R(ex) and an inscription: QUO REGNANTE ERECTUM ANNO 1773/ FAVENTE FIRMATU1775/COLLEGIUM/PERENNATURO PERENNET. In the medallions the king’s coat of arms (CIOŁEK), the coat of arms of Poland and Lithuania and the Eye of Providence. The top of the portal is crowned with a crown on a cushion and a decorative parapet with vases placed on pedestals. The gate has double wooden gates, from which the Kościesza coat of arms of Abbot Kosmowski were removed during the renovation. On the sides of the portal, the walls are framed by pilasters and pedestals with semicircular arcades, wooden transoms and a wooden balustrade above. The elevations on the courtyard side, similarly to the front, are accented with window surrounds. The remaining elevations are plain with a slightly accentuated base at the level of the ground floor windows and the eaves cornice. The elevation of the avant-corps stands out with its corners framed by pilasters of the chapel’s grand order, ground floor arcades featuring basket-handle arches and semicircular windows. In the front rooms of the side wings, the larger rooms served as classrooms, a dining room with kitchen facilities was located to the east, and classrooms were located to the west. In the chapel on the first floor the chancel was separated by a rood arcade. Probably under the plaster there is an original Rococo polychrome from about 1775 with architectural motifs on the lesene, floral motifs (acanthus and bouquets of roses) in the window and arcade surrounds, figural representations (the Eucharistic lamb and medallions with busts of the four Evangelists) on the ceiling and the patron saints of youth St. Stanisław Kostka and St. Kazimierz on the walls on the sides of the rood. The interior of the chapel is decorated with a late Baroque painting from 1775, depicting the abbot Kosmowski with his alumnus under the care of Our Lady of Częstochowa.

Visitor access. The site is inaccessible to visitors. The front elevation can be seen from the outside.

Author of the note: Radomiła Banach, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 27.11.2017

Bibliography

Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, Vol. XI z.10, Mogilno, Strzelno, Trzemeszno i Okolice, developed by Z. Białłowicz-Krygierowa, Warsaw 1982, pp. 109-110.

Z. Białłowicz-Krygierowa, Zabytki Mogilna, Trzemeszna, Strzelna i okolic od gotyku do baroku. Studia z dziejów ziemi mogileńskiej, Poznań 1978, pp. 317-431

Dzieje Trzemeszna, collective work edited by Cz. Łuczak, WBP Poznań 2002, pp. 91-93,97-99,103,160-162, 164-165