Sytuacja krajobrazowa opactw cysterskich w Polsce w kontekście obowiązujących form ich ochrony

In the Middle Ages in the area of today's Poland the Order ofCistercians founded twenty six male monasteries located in the historical Polish regions of Lesser Poland, Greater Poland, Silesia and Pomerania. Nowadays, in the age of the search for common cultural origins, it is the Cistercians who can be pronounced the forerunners of the united Europe. Hence, it is essential to identify and protect the relics of the Order which from the beginning of its existence has been connected with farming and has become an important part of the landscape of the countries where it built its monasteries. The cultural and landscape virtuesofevery monastery and its surrounding lands make it our obligation to put them under special protection. The destruction of historical architecture and the dangers of the rapid urbanization of Poland, together with the general lack of land utilization plans give every right to claim that now is our final chance to classify all that is still leftfrom historical Cistercian landscapes in Poland, and to explore the directions in which they evolved in the context of their obvious links to European art. It is certain that only detailed analyses of functional and spatial transformations can tell us something about the development that Cistercian landscape compositions have undergone. Only on that basis can we predict further changes, identify possible dangers and establish the laws of protection suitable for the discussed group of historie monuments. Presenting forms of cultural and environmental protection applicable for post-Cistercian landscape can help to predict future architectural transformations of monastic and post-monastic complexes, assuming, of course, they are effective and that the urbanization rush on protected areas is brought to a halt. It should be stressed that analyzing landscape of architectural complexes dating back to medieval times gives solid ground to establish the direction of transformations and new development tendencies connected with the urbanization of land previously managed by the Cistercians and being today utilized in a variety of other ways. The conclusions of such analyses are universal, since not only do they make us realize what spatial solutions has led contemporary society to take over landscape to a such a great extent, but also enable us to see the dangers that come with excessive landscape anthropogenisation.