Poznań/Archaeologists, art historians, and urban planners concerned about development plans for part of Ostrów Tumski

Archaeologists, art historians, and urban planners believe that developing the northern part of Ostrów Tumski will have disastrous consequences for this unique island. The Poznań branch of the Association of Art Historians has prepared a petition, "Save Ostrów Tumski in Poznań," to the mayor of Poznań and Poznań city councilors.

Łukasz Olędzki from the Poznań Municipal Urban Planning Office (MPU) explained in an interview with PAP that the draft local plan "Ostrów Tumski Area in Poznań, Northern Part B1" is currently in consultation with residents and municipal entities. He also assured that the potential construction of residential buildings will not in any way disrupt the island's historic character, its panoramic views, or the stability of the historic buildings.

The area around Ostrów Tumski is the oldest part of Poznań. The island was the seat of Poland's first rulers. Mieszko I built his palatium there. The first cathedral in Poland was also built nearby, and in 968, the first Polish bishopric was established there.

The petitioners were concerned about plans to build a residential district with multi-story buildings and underground garages, in a densely built environment, for approximately 5,000 people. They believe that this project will radically alter an area of unique historical character in Poland, fully protected by conservation law. It will destroy the city's northern green wedge, the natural surroundings of the Warta and Cybina rivers, and some of the oldest allotment gardens in Poznań.

"Unexplored, priceless archaeological sites will be irreversibly lost, and the panorama of this oldest part of Poznań will be transformed," the petition emphasizes. According to its authors, an investment of this scale will pose a real threat to historical monuments, including the cathedral, the relics of Mieszko's palace, the collegiate church, and the Lubrański Academy.

A number of academics and experts in various fields – urban planners, historians, art historians, monument conservators, archaeologists, architects, naturalists and ecologists – addressed their comments and appeals to the city authorities, "anticipating the disastrous consequences of such a poorly planned development investment".

– We join these voices of opposition, calling for the withdrawal of the presented projects and the reopening of the discussion on the form of development of such unique areas of our city – wrote the authors of the petition.

The authors included Dr. Tomasz Ratajczak, president of the Poznań Branch of the Association of Art Historians; Prof. Tomasz Matusewicz, chairman of the Commission on Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Architecture of the Poznań Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Dr. Michał Brzostowicz, deputy director of the Archaeological Museum in Poznań; Prof. Jacek Kowalski, president of the Department of Art Sciences of the Poznań Society of Friends of Science; and Dorota Matyaszczyk, head of the Poznań branch of the Society for the Protection of Monuments.

The document, posted online, has been signed by over 4,000 people so far. Actress Maja Komorowska also published an appeal to Poznań authorities regarding this matter.

"Ostrów Tumski in Poznań, with its oldest Polish cathedral, the mausoleum of Mieszko and Bolesław the Brave, is the cradle of our state. To my dismay, I learn that the Poznań authorities want to build a large housing estate on this same island. Mr. Mayor, gentlemen of the council, 1,000 years of Polish culture and history are looking down on you from Ostrów Tumski. Cancel the project and begin a debate on creating a proper environment, befitting the status of the cradle of the Polish state," she said.

Łukasz Olędzki from the Poznań Municipal Urban Planning Office told PAP that the draft local plan "Ostrów Tumski Area in Poznań, Northern Part B1" is currently in the consultation phase with residents and municipal entities. The Poznań Municipal Urban Planning Office has received approximately 200 submissions from institutions and individuals regarding the plan; the collected material is being analyzed.

– We cannot yet determine how and to what extent the draft will be amended, but the large number of people who took part in the consultations and responded to our request for feedback indicates the need to carefully analyze each position – he said.

After making any necessary adjustments, which the Municipal Planning Office is currently working on, the mayor will decide whether to renew the municipal consultation phase or forward the project to the next stages of the formal and legal procedure. During these stages, all those involved in the planning process will have the opportunity to review the findings and submit their comments.

Olędzki pointed out that the area, which has attracted public attention, is now largely degraded. Half of it is meadows and the wild greenery of the floodplain of the Warta and Cybina river valleys. About 30 percent is a former precast concrete factory. The rest is the area of a family allotment garden.

– The northern part of Ostrów Tumski is an artificially created area, the formation of which, together with changes in the course of the Warta riverbed at the beginning of the 20th century, could have significantly influenced the historical development of Ostrów Tumski – emphasized the MPU representative.

He assured that any planned activities in this area will be significantly less invasive than those carried out at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when railway embankments and fortifications were built on Ostrów Tumski, among other things, and those from the 1960s, related to the construction of a tram route, bridges, and the change of the Warta River bed.

He noted that the disputed area is functionally and commutably separated from the cathedral island by the embankment of the Poznań-Warsaw railway line. Expansion of the railway system between Poznań Główny and Poznań Wschód stations is planned. This will involve enlarging the barrier separating the northern part of the island from the cathedral and the surrounding buildings.

A representative of the Municipal Park and Recreation Center (MPU) stated that the northern part of the island is outside the city's green space. No archaeological sites have been recorded there. It is located no closer than 400 meters to the cathedral and no closer than 200 meters to the remnants of a defensive rampart from a settlement dating back to the 10th-11th centuries.

The draft local plan envisages the revitalization of post-industrial areas, their adaptation to multi-family housing and commercial development, and the establishment of development parameters, while maintaining views of the Cathedral, the Citadel, and the western part of the island. It also designates spaces for public services. It aims to preserve the environmental values of the natural greenery of the Warta River Valley.

It will enable the creation of parks, squares, and public boulevards along the Warta River surrounding the northern part of the island, maintaining access to the Warta and Cybina river valleys.

The buildings planned for this area are to have a height of 12 to 21 m, with a height increase zone for parts of three buildings up to 28 m and for parts of four buildings up to 24 m, as well as zones for reducing the height of buildings up to 7 m to achieve the effect of lowering the height of buildings in the zones closest to the river valleys.

"The project submitted for public consultation assumes a method of shaping the height of the new development that will not negatively impact the panorama of Ostrów Tumski, while the cathedral will remain the dominant architectural and urban feature of the area. Concerns expressed by various organizations and individuals in this regard are based on erroneous and manipulated graphics that depict inaccurate heights and locations of the new development," assured Łukasz Olędzki.

When asked how the city plans to protect unexplored archaeological areas which, according to experts, will disappear forever and which constitute archaeological layers dating back to the beginning of the Polish state, he noted that the adoption of the plan will introduce the need for archaeological research of this area, and in the event of discoveries, it will result in the need for appropriate protection and adjustment of investments.

The Municipal Conservator of Monuments plans to apply to the Poznań City Council for funding to carry out survey, non-invasive archaeological research, which he would like to commission in early 2026.

Commenting on concerns raised that the construction of underground floors would change the groundwater system on the island, the MPU representative said that the plan assumes the possibility of building a maximum of one underground floor.

Łukasz Olędzki also explained that the local spatial development plan is a legal tool defining the framework within which it will be possible to implement a new method of development.

"This project will have to comply with a number of separate regulations. As part of preparing the construction design, each investor is required to submit documentation that takes into account, among other things, soil, water, and geological conditions," he said.

He added that at this stage, the investment's impact on the surrounding buildings will be assessed. An appropriate and safe construction method will also be determined. (PAP)

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