When I moved to USA I noticed a huge difference between cemeteries in Poland and here…

Polish cemeteries (polskie cmentarze) are unique (wyjątkowe). I did not see such a rich variety of graves’ styles anywhere else in the world. This is partly due to the fact that Poles are Roman Catholic. For Roman Catholics the death is important part of human existence (ludzkiego istnienia). The death (śmierć) does not end human life since we all have eternal spirit. For a long time Catholic Church was very skeptical towards burning bodies, crematoria are still rare in Poland. Therefore the graves (groby) are large, since each person need to be buried in a coffin (trumna) which is of the size of a human body.

People are buried in a single graves, in marriage graves or in the family graves or crypts. The cemeteries are divided into the community cemeteries, which include people of different beliefs and non-believers and in the parish cemeteries. The religious cemeteries are not all Roman Catholic, Lutheran churches have their own Lutheran cemeteries, Orthodox churches have Orthodox cemeteries. There are several Jewish cemeteries, in Kraków at least three. There are also military cemeteries (cmentarze wojskowe).

There are regional differences (regionale różnice) in the outlook of the cemeteries. Polish highlanders (górale) are very skilled in wood carving, you can see it on the old Zakopane cemetery – to the right, the complex sculptures are done from wood.

There are several old and historical cemeteries in Poland. These cemeteries have a unique atmosphere since there are filled with old trees or bushes. They contain historical graves from different ages built in different styles.

Two most famous old cemeteries are Powązki cemetery in Warsaw and Rakowice cemetery in Kraków. But there are much more.

Rakowice cemetery is a main necropolis in Kraków. It is situated almost in the center of the town. It was open in 1803 and it replaced several church cemeteries of the downtown. Its size was increase several times in XIX and XX century to the current area of 52 hectares. It also encompasses a military cemetery.

Salwator cemetery is situated in a beautiful part of Kraków, on the hill. The road to the Salwator is a beautiful old alley uphill surrounded by old trees, leads from the monastery of St. Norbert nuns, through the old St. Salwador chapel near the St. Bronisława hill with a beautiful panorama to Kraków downtown and to the nearby Salwator district, one of the nicest districts of the town.

Another old cemetery situated above the banks of Wisła river is a Tyniec cemetery, next to the old Tyniec Benedictines monastery from XI century.

The most famous cemetery of Warsaw is Powązki necropolis (picture on the left). Powązki necropolis consists of a whole complex of cemeteries. It has an old part with tombs of many famous and important people for Polish culture and so called “Avenue of the Meritorious” – Aleja Zasłużonych. It also contains a military cemetery with large number of those involved in the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis during World War II, the Battle of Warsaw, and the September Campaign.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)