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Here are a few important facts from the history of Cedynia: in 972 the Polish ruler Duke Mieszko I beat the Saxon Margrave Odo I in a battle for access to the River Odra estuary; in the mid 13th century the town fell under the Margraves of Brandenburg who brought missionaries with them; 1266 marked the arrival of the Cistercian nuns who followed the Latin principle ora et labora (pray and work). Soon a convent was butli which towered over Cedynia and exerted a influence on the town and on the Christianization of Western Pomerania for the next three centuries. Then, in 1555 the convent became secularized, and in 2005 it was converted into a hotel. During the long period in between these dates the building was used as a girls’ school, the seat of the Elector of Brandenburg, a hunting mansion, a post office and a residential establishment. It was also repeatedly damaged by fire. In the last fire the outer plaster fell off revealing medieval stone walls underneath.

This was exactly what the present owners, Aleksandra and Piotr Hrynkiewicz, were looping for when they entered into the tender for the purchase of the building. Initially, they did not plan to convert it into a hotel; they bought it simply because they were enthusiasts of history, art and antiques.

The rebuilding of the former Cistercian convent and its adaptation as a hotel and restaurant lasted from 1997 to 2005. The enterprise covered the design stage, construction and finishing works, and re-adaptation of the adjacent park. Although the building is now a far cry from the monastic establishment it once was, some of the original atmosphere has endured. The thick, austere walls and the omnipresent tranquillity are conducive to contemplation. The former convent’s culinary offer is a true feast for the palate. The menu includes elaborate game dishes such as roasted boar, and venison medallions in Grand Veneur sauce, as well as more traditional foods. Once a month the silent seven hundred-yearold stones resound with music by the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra.

‘We decided to introduce these concerts, which attract many visitors, in order to boost the prestige of the place,’ says Piotr Hrynkiewicz, who is also a painting enthusiast willing to share the history of the family collection of paintings displayed in the large Fireplace Room.

The Klasztor Cedynia Hotel is visited by abort 40,000 paying guests a year, mostly Germans. Many of them return regularly. Every year by August the hotel is fully booked until the next New Year’s Eve.