ŚWIEBODZIN

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Attractions of the town

The historical town square of Świebodzin has not changed that  much since the Middle Ages, with its central town square and the  streets perpendicularly joined to it. The streets in the town centre  run along the former moated bailey, which gives the town a well- thought-out, clear plan, providing unobstructed traffic circulation.  The remains of the bailey, with the parish church and the town hall,  form truly interesting historic sights, definitely not to be missed.

The town hall - said to have been erected in the XIV century as a  two-bay building. The original barrel vaults - made with field  stones - can still be seen in the basement. After the fire of 1541, the  town hall was restored and extended with another bay. In the XIX  century, one of the two towers was deconstructed (the guard  tower), and the town hall was given a new look, with a bossage  and a battlement finish of the main tower. The ground floor of the  town hall, decorated with star vaults, is home to the Muzeum  Regionalne (regional museum), where local heritage exhibition is  open for visitors all year round. At the top of the town hall tower, a  viewing terrace is available for unforgettable views of the town  and its surroundings. 

 

The St. Michael the Archangel’s church - the parish church  adjacent to the town square at its north-earth corner. The church  was built in the second half of the XV century as a 3-nave temple,  with a pentagonal chancel. After a fire in 1541, another nave was  built, and a row of chapels was added . The main nave has got a  wonderful star vault, and the net vaults cover the side chapels. In  the XIX century, the church underwent a radical remodelling in the  Gothic Revival style: the antechapel was added, while the facade  was reinforced with two soaring turrets. Inside, some genuine sightseeing treats include the St. Anne’s  triptych, the sculpted crucification scene, as well as the Holy Virgin  Mary’s statue, which originates from the Rococo style.

 

The castle, erected in the XVI century, once a part of the town’s  bailey. For centuries, the seat of local starosts and marshals.  Countless conversions and restoration have sadly deprived the  castle of its original shape. Until today, only two wings have  survived. The castle is now a part of  the Lubuskie  Orthopaedist  Centre.

 

The moated bailey, erected in the XIV-XVI centuries, once  encircled the town, with 12 flanking towers and 3 gates. Gradually  deconstructed since the XVIII century, the bailey’s remains and just  3 surviving towers can be seen in Parkowa Street, Okrężna Street,  Wałowa Street and Szpitalna Street. 

 

The parish school, said to be one of the oldest surviving building  in the town, was built near the town’s parish church by  Bonawentura Schickfuss in 1604. It was later reconstructed in the  XIX century, which was to remain the present shape of the building,  but one can still admire its splendid net vault.

The Church of the Holy Virgin Mary the Queen of Poland, once a  Protestant church, was erected in 1898-1900. The church is a fine  example of the Gothic Revival architecture. Inside, the original  stained glass with Świebodzin’s coat of arms can still be seen  today.

 

The town houses - up to the XVIII century, the prevailing type of  the town houses’ architecture was the wooden one. The town  square used to be framed with arcaded buildings, of which only  one has survived until today. The oldest surviving town houses  date back to XVIII (Wiejska Street, Kościelna Street). Most of the  town’s architecture, however, was build in the XIX and the XX  century, usually in the Neo-Gothic, Secession, and eclectic styles.  The most interesting town houses can be spotted in Wolności  Square, as well as Jana Pawła II Square (the town square),  Piłsudskiego Street, Żymierskiego Street, and 1 Maja Street. The  commune of Świebodzin can boast 125 listed buildings, supervised  by the local art conservator.

 

Christ the King (Polish: Pomnik Chrystusa Króla, lit. Monument of Christ the King) is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, completed on 6 November 2010. The figure is 33 metres (108 ft) tall, the crown is 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall,  and along with its mound, it reaches 52.5 metres (172 ft)]overall. It took five years in total to construct. The project was conceived and led by Sylwester Zawadzki, a retired Polish priest. It is the tallest statue of Jesus in the world. The statue was built on a 16.5 metres (54 ft) embankment of stones and rubble. Christ the King has a height of 33 metres (108 ft), symbolising a traditional belief that Jesus' age at his death was 33. The Crown of the temple is 3.5 metres (11 ft) in diameter and 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height, and the whole is gilded. It weighs 440 tons. The head alone is 4.5 metres (15 ft) tall and weighs 15 tons. Each hand is 6 metres (20 ft) in length and the distance between the ends of the fingers is 24 metres (79 ft). It is composed of concrete and fibreglass. It is 3 metres (9.8 ft) taller than the better known statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, standing at 30.1 metres (99 ft) tall without its pedestal. On 29 September 2006, the city council of Świebodzin passed a resolution on the establishment of Christ the King. The President (under the authority of the board) along with the mayor spoke to the Bishop of Zielona Góra-Gorzów Diocese.