Dom Opatów Pelplińskich, Gdańsk

Dom Opatów Pelplińskich is a rare surviving townhouse of Gdańsk’s Old Town, and it now belongs to the University of Gdańsk. Its brick façade turns a narrow canal-side building into a display of carved stone and patterned surfaces. Notice the gable: stone strips cross it like metal straps, while curling outlines, small obelisks, and pinecone forms give it the elaborate character of Dutch Mannerism.

An eagle added during the city’s renovation crowns the composition. The house was built in the early seventeenth century, with Abraham van den Blocke credited as its architect. In sixteen eighty-six, the Pelplin Cistercian abbey acquired it through a purchase formally made by the Pomeranian voivode, because monks were barred from owning town houses.

The abbey then ran this address as an inn until its dissolution. Inside, parts of the historic fabric remain, including a wooden stair balustrade showing Susanna and the Elders. Today the building contains the Museum of the University of Gdańsk, where the university’s history and its cultural and scientific influence are presented.