Pelplin

Pelplin
Panorama of the town
Flag Coat of arms
Pelplin
Coordinates: 53°55′41″N 18°41′52″E / 53.92806°N 18.69778°E / 53.92806; 18.69778Coordinates: 53°55′41″N 18°41′52″E / 53.92806°N 18.69778°E / 53.92806; 18.69778
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Pomeranian
County	Tczew
Gmina	Pelplin
Area
• Total	4.45 km2 (1.72 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	8,486
• Density	1,900/km2 (4,900/sq mi)
Postal code	83-130
Website	http://www.pelplin.pl

Pelplin [ˈpɛlplʲin] is a small town in Tczew County, Pomeranian Voivodship, Poland. Population: 9,993 (2007). The former Pelplin Abbey is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pelplin, and the abbey church is now Pelplin Cathedral.

Pelplin lies in a valley on both sides of river Wierzyca, a left affluent of river Vistula in Pomeralia, which ends up in the Vistula at the town of Gniew. Pelplin is located about 11 kilometres (7 miles) west of the Vistula, 12 km (7 miles) south-east of the town of Starogard Gdański, 19 km (12 miles) south-west the town of Tczew and 50 km (31 miles) south of the regional capitol of Gdańsk. It is surrounded by a chain of little hills, its altitude varies between 8 metres (26 feet) above sea level at the lowlands of the Vistula in the east and 86 metres (282 feet) above sea level at 'Czubatka' hill in the west.

Archaeological findings have revealed that human settlements existed in the region of the town already during the Stone age and the Bronze Age.

The history of Pelplin is tightly interwoven with the history of the Monastery of Pelplin, which according to the monastery's chronicle was founded in 1274 by Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania. The monastery of Pelplin had a forerunner in the monastery of the Cistercians in Pogutken located at the upper course of the Wierzyca, which had been founded in 1258 by Sambor II, Duke of Pomerania. In 1276 the monks, which had come from the Monastery of Doberan in Mecklenburg to Pogutken, begun to transfer their monastery to Pelplin.