Before the excavation works referred to in this paper, the early history of Lubin abbey, one of the oldest Benedictine abbeys in Poland, was rather poorly known. Archaeological research in the years 1978-1994 brought up a lot of new data which made it possible to settle some controversial issues and to reconstruct the subsequent construction stages of the abbey church and claustrum. Lubin abbey was founded twice, at the end of the 11th century and a few decades later in the 12th century. Only remains of the unfinished three-aisled church are left from the first foundation. A small single-nave church with a three-apsed termination that was finished in 1145 is connected with the second foundation. The area reserved for the church and the claustrum was limited by the stone walls with flanking towers and a moat. In the 12th and 13th centuries the church was extended by a tower with a gallery, a grave chapel adjacent to the north of the church. To the south there was a graveyard bounded by a stone wall, and beyond the wall, a pilgrimhouse was built even further south. At that time too the small parish church of St Leonard, a fine example of Romanesque architecture, was erected.
