The best city hikes and walks around Garczyn

for those who are curious about what this place looked like 100 years ago https://koscierzyna.naszemiasto.pl/rynek-w-koscierzynie-dawniej-i-dzis-sprawdz-jak-przed-laty/ar/c9-8247498

At the corner of the building there is a polygonal bay window supported by consoles decorated with two characteristic gargoyles and palm leaf ornamentation. The whole is topped with a cupola topped with a pinnacle. An undoubted curiosity of the Kościerzyna market square is Remus, the hero of the Kashubian epic entitled "Żëcé i przigòdë Remùsa" written by Aleksander Majkowski, a native of Kościerzyna, the initiator of the Young Kashubian movement, sitting on his wheelbarrow near the gushing fountain.

The market square is similar in shape to a square with diagonals running in accordance with the directions of the cardinal directions. Currently, the square is mainly surrounded by three-storey tenement houses built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them, the corner tenement house with no. 12, built at the beginning of the 20th century, deserves special attention, standing at the end of Gdańska Street.

he heart of the city, which is also the center of the historic urban layout of the city center, preserved in an unchanged form since the times of the Teutonic Knights' foundation of the city, is the market square. The principle of the market square layout and the layout of Kościerzyna streets was based on a layout with a square enclosed by eight streets extending perpendicularly from its corners.

Beautifully renovated old market square. You can cool off here with a beer or by the gushing water.

Currently, the church is an impressive, brick building with three naves. The interior is covered with a wooden ceiling. Most of the furnishings mainly come from the first half of the 18th century. The oldest monument is the painting "Crucifixion" from the beginning of the 16th century. It is located in the right side altar. The main altar comes from the first half of the 17th century. It belongs to the transitional period between the Renaissance and the Baroque. The altar setting features a bas-relief scene of the coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the side chapel there is a painting of the Mother of God with Child in her arms. It is a work of an unknown painter from the 17th century, a copy of the painting "Our Lady of the Snows"[1].

In the years 1914–1917, the church that exists to this day was built, representing the neo-baroque style. In 1970, Bishop Kazimierz Kowalski of Chełmno decided to establish a Marian sanctuary in this temple. In 1997, the temple was given the title of the Marian Sanctuary of Our Lady of Kościerzyna – Queen of Families. The coronation of the image with papal crowns took place on May 16, 1998.

Most likely, the first mention of the existence of a wooden church is specified in the report of the bishop's visit, which took place in 1583. The first brick church was built in 1642. During these periods, the building suffered greatly from the effects of warfare, as well as numerous fires. A new church was built in 1724 and consecrated in 1769.