Sambor I, Duke of Pomerania, founded the Cistercian monastery on July 2, 1186. The article names no architect. A first Romanesque oratory burned in 1224, and a fire in 1350 destroyed the church. The present form dates to the second half of the 14th century, in brick Gothic. Fire struck again in 1577, and the church was rebuilt from 1578 to 1583 and consecrated on August 14, 1594. The high altar and the Baroque portal date to 1688.
The church is 351 feet (107 m) long and 62 feet (19 m) wide, with two facade towers 151 feet (46 m) tall. Johann Wilhelm Wulff designed the organ, built from 1763 to 1788.
Prussian authorities closed the monastery in 1831. It became an archcathedral in 1992 and a Historic Monument of Poland in 2017, with organ concerts daily.
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