Discover Stare Czarnowo

The local history of Stare Czarnowo offers a historical focus for planning your trip: it traces the place from the name Cirnowe through the Cistercians of Kołbacz and market rights to the church. The milestones are dated with varying degrees of precision. Some accounts give a year, while others specify an approximate period or a century. These distinctions help put events in context without conflating them into a single point in time.

Cirnowe, Donation and Grange

A document dated to the years 1179–1181 mentions Stare Czarnowo for the first time, under the name Cirnowe. The date range refers to the dating of the document. In 1226, Duke Barnim donated the place to the Cistercians of Kołbacz. These are two distinct milestones: the early mention of the name and the donation. Both are part of the place’s medieval history, but they answer different questions—what the place was called and to whom it was donated.

Before 1326, the Cistercians converted Stare Czarnowo into a monastic grange, that is, a monastic estate farm. This conversion followed the donation, but is not assigned to a specific year. The terms mark different steps: the donation names Duke Barnim and the Cistercians of Kołbacz; grange refers to the later monastic form of the place.

Market Rights and Fair

Around the middle of the 13th century, Stare Czarnowo was granted market rights, known in Latin as forum liberum. The place was also a parish village from at least the 13th century. The two terms describe different characteristics: market rights refer to the right to hold a market, while parish village refers to the village’s ecclesiastical status. Together, they show different aspects of the place’s medieval history.

A fair was held in Stare Czarnowo on the basis of these market rights. It began on November 11 or, if that date fell on a Saturday or Sunday, on the following Monday. The calendar date therefore remained November 11; the start was postponed only when it fell on a weekend. This rule makes the market’s history concrete by specifying both a fixed date and a clearly defined exception.

Church and Cycle Route Connection

The first church in Stare Czarnowo was built in the southern part of the village at the end of the 12th century. This specific building from an early phase of the place’s history sits alongside the mention of its name in the document dated to 1179–1181. Both details relate to the early history, but describe different things: the first church building and the first mention of the place’s name.

In 1531, the church was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 16th century. A specific year is given for the fire, while the rebuilding is dated only to the century. This allows the destruction and rebuilding to be understood as two events without specifying the year of the restoration more precisely. The church’s history thus spans the first building at the end of the 12th century through the events of the 16th century.

Cycling offers another perspective: the cycle route connection between Stare Czarnowo, Kołbacz and Szczecin was built in 2019. If you plan to use the route for a ride, check in advance whether it is accessible for your planned journey.

Discover more destinations: Cedynia, Weltyn, Steklno, Nawodna, Nowe Czarnowo, Binowo, Moryń, Kolbatz

For the broader travel overview: Gryfino.