Strzelno is a town located on the border between the region of Kujawy and the province of Greater Poland, in the Gniezno Lake District, in the district of Mogilno.
Strzelno was granted its borough rights in 1231. The town itself was established by Piotr Włostowic, a governor appointed by Bolesław III Wrymouth, considered to be the founder of the Holy Cross Church. In the 12th century, when Strzelno was merely a rural settlement, the Premonstratensians established a monastery there. Later on, the town became a centre of trade and craft, resulting from its geographical location near the busy trade routes going from Poznań to Toruń, and further on to Lithuania, and from Kalisz to Gdańsk. During the period of Partitions, Strzelno was incorporated in the territory under Prussian rule, and was liberated as late as on 2nd January 1919, as a result of the Greater Poland uprising of 1918–1919. During the Second Polish Republic, Strzelno became a poviat capital.
The town has some of the most important monuments of Romanesque art existing in Poland. In 2018, the complex of buildings located on the Saint Wojciech Hill, east from the Market Square, was granted the status of a Historic Monument. The most prominent one is the Romanesque monastic complex of the Premonstratensians, which includes the Holy Trinity Church erected after 1170. Among its elements most worthy of your attention are the 4 columns in the Romanesque style separating the central nave from the aisles, carved in sandstone. The aisles contain a number of headstones, gravestones, and sculptures dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. During the January Uprising 1863/1864, the monastery was turned into a hospital for the insurgents. The beauty of the columns was demonstrated in a documentary film “Strzelno” directed by Tadeusz Jaworski. Close to the monastic complex, there stands the most famous structure of the town – the Romanesque Saint Procopius Rotunda. The structure was built using cut granite, and it dates back to the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century.
Strzelno is located on the Piast Trail, which is a tourist route going through the provinces of Greater Poland and Kujawsko-Pomorskie, aimed at reconstructing the cyclic travelling of rulers from the Piast dynasty.