Poland - Cracow's Historic Centre (3)

Kraków - The Market Square (Rynek Starego Miasta), Town Hall Tower  (Wieża Ratuszowa)

Sent by Klaudia from Poland.

Poland - Kraków - Dancing Lajkonik

Kraków
Dancing Lajkonik.

Sent by Angela, a postcrosser from Poland.

This is from Wikipedia : The Lajkonik is one of the unofficial symbols of the city of Kraków, Poland. It is represented as a bearded man resembling a Tatar in a characteristic pointed hat, dressed in Mongol attire, with a wooden horse around his waist. It is the subject of the Lajkonik Festival (Polish: Lajkoniki) that takes place each year on the first Thursday after the religious holiday ofCorpus Christi.

The origin of the Lajkonik is uncertain, but there are some common stories associated with its popularity. Some think that it originated in pre-Christian times when it was believed that in the spring the horse brought good luck and high crop yields.

Other stories are associated from the 13th century, when the city was attacked during the Mongol invasion of Poland. One, likely counterfactual story, says that the people of Kraków successfully repelled the Tatar invasion. Because they killed one of the leaders, a Tatar Khan, the victorious defenders dressed up in the Khan’s clothing and triumphantly rode into the city.

Another version recalls that the Tatars arrived at the city gates at night in 1287, but chose not to attack the city until morning and instead camped along the Vistula. Some locals transporting wood on the river saw them and decided to play a joke on the city. They entered the city gates and dressed up like Tatars on horses trying to scare people into thinking the gates were breached. To the relief of the people of the city their true identity was soon discovered and the incident's popularity led the mayor to declare this to be an annual celebration.

Poland - Nowy Wiśnicz

The Carmelite Church in Nowy Wiśnicz.

Sent by Wanda, a WiP partner from Poland.

This is from Wikipedia : Nowy Wiśnicz [ˈnɔvɨ ˈviɕnit​͡ʂ] (Yiddish: ווישניצא Vishnitsa) is a small town in Bochnia County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,724 inhabitants (2004). It is located 4 miles south of Bochnia.

The Carmelite Church in Nowy Wiśnicz was established by Stanisław Lubomirski, voivode of Kraków to commemorate the victory over the Turks in the Battle of Khotyn (1621). It was constructed according to design by Matteo Trapola between 1631-35. The interior was embellished with profuse early baroque stucco decorations by Giovanni Battista Falconi, frescoes by Mathäus Ingermann of Rome, 8 marble altars with oil paintings by Ingermann and probably by José de Ribera (the founder was a passionate collector of European art). Between 1942-44 the interior was devastated by the Germans and eventually the church had been demolished.

Poland - Tatry

Tatry or the Tatra Mountains.

Sent by Basia, a postcrosser from Poland.

This is from Wikipedia : The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra (Tatry in both Polish and Slovak, Tátra in Hungarian), constitute a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland and is the highest mountain range of the Carpathians. They occupy an area of 750 km², the major part (600 km²) of which lies in Slovakia. The highest mountain is Gerlach at 2,655 m, located in Slovakia just north of Poprad. The north-western peak of Rysy (2,499 m) is the highest Polish mountain.

Poland - Cracow's Historic Centre (2)

Kraków-Barbakan

Sent by Lidka, a postcrosser from Poland.

Poland - Zakopane

Greetings from Zakopane.

One of the three postcards sent by Kamil from Poznan in Poland.

This is from Wikipedia : Zakopane [zakɔˈpanɛ] is a town in southern Poland with some 28,000 inhabitants (2004), situated in Lesser Poland Province since 1999 (in 1975–98, it was part of Nowy Sącz Province). The town, a place of Góral culture and informally known as "the winter capital of Poland," lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, the only alpine mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains.

Poland - Wieliczka Salt Mine

Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland.

Sent by Magdalena, a postcrosser from Poland.

The salt mines of Cracow exemplify a large industrial establishment, administratively and technically well organized, the continued existence of which has been ensured by the process of adaptation since the Middle Ages. The progressive development of mining processes over the centuries is perfectly illustrated there, in all its stages, owing to the consolidation and conservation of the old galleries, each with the installations of their time. A comprehensive collection of mining tools displayed inside the mine constitutes valuable material evidence of the evolution of mining technology over a long period of European history.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in southern Poland near the city of Cracow, has been worked as a source of rock salt since the late 13th century. The total length of the galleries, in which are to be found wells, corridors, labyrinths, excavations of all sorts, rooms, and even chapels cut out of the salt, with altars, pulpits and statues, is some 300 km, connecting more than 2,000 excavation chambers on nine underground levels. It extends 5 km to the east and west and 1 km to the north and south, reaching a maximum depth of 327 m below the surface. Over the centuries, miners have established a tradition of carving sculptures out of the native rock salt. As a result, the mine contains entire underground churches, altars, bas-reliefs, and dozens of life-size or larger statues. It also houses an underground museum and has a number of special-purpose chambers such as a sanatorium for people suffering from respiratory ailments. The largest of the chapels, the Chapel of the Blessed King, is located 101 m below the surface; it is over 50 m long, 15 m wide and 12 m high, with a volume of 10,000 cm³ . The subterranean lake, open to tourists since the 15th century, completes this curious complex. (Source)

Poland - Cracow's Historic Centre (1)

Multiviews of Kraków.

Sent by Weronika, a postcrosser from Poland.

The urban layout of Cracow, an outstanding example of medieval architecture, is based on four core areas: the centre, around the market square; the Wawel, the hill inhabited since the Palaeolithic and the site of the imperial palace; the urban district of Kazimierz; and the Stradom quarter.

The historic centre of Cracow, the former capital of Poland, is situated at the foot of the Royal Wawel Castle. The 13th-century merchants' town has Europe's largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with magnificent interiors. Further evidence of the town's fascinating history is provided by the remnants of the 14th-century fortifications and the medieval site of Kazimierz with its ancient synagogues in the southern part of town, the Jagellonian University, and the Gothic cathedral where the kings of Poland were buried.

Stare Miasto is the old city, characterized by the rigid grid of perfectly orthogonal streets, the layout ordered by Boloslaw the Chaste in 1257 when he decided to unify the various peoples scattered around the hill of the Wawel. All that remains now of the medieval enclosure walls is the gate and the little wall that was built in 1499 near the main city gate.

The old city is separated from the old district of Kazimierz. Until the 1880 Diet Kazimierz was an island, forming the Jewish quarter of Cracow. As in every city, Jewish culture enriched Cracow, until in the Second World War the entire Jewish community of 64,000 individuals was deported to the nearby concentration camps at Auschwitz; only 6,000 returning at the end of the war.

The university quarter is the oldest in Poland and among the oldest in Europe. Students here have included Copernicus and Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II). Within the historic centre there are many churches and monasteries. The limestone hill of the Wawel is the site of a complex that houses some of the most important buildings. These include the Royal Palace, seat of the king in the period when the boundaries of Poland extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Today the palace accommodates a museum that displays splendid tapestries, the Royal Treasury (unfortunately depleted in periods of difficulty), royal standards, and antique furniture. Within the Wawel is the Gothic cathedral of St Wenceslas. Its exterior illustrates the complex history of this building. The cathedral was for centuries the scene of the main events of the Polish royal families - coronations, weddings, and funerals.

In the part of the castle accessible on the Wisla, there is a small park at the base of the hill with the cave of the legendary Krak, prince and head of a Slav tribe. At the entrance to the Wawel the ancient Royal Way of monuments and remarkable historical buildings begins. Then comes the heart of the old city: the Market Square (Rynek Głowny). This is one of the largest medieval public squares in Europe, 200 m on each side. The building in the centre of the square is the Skiennice, the ancient cloth market. One side is dominated by the Gothic church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. (Source)

Poland - Częstochowa

Various places in Częstochowa, Poland.
Top left : Holiest Virgin Mary Avenue. Bottom left : The Jasna Góra Monastery.
Right : Sculpture of Little Girl with pigeons

Sent by Klaudyna from Częstochowa, Poland.

This is from Wikipedia : Częstochowa [t​͡ʂɛ̃stɔˈxɔva] is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants (June 2009). It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (administrative division) since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship (1975–1998). However, Częstochowa historically is part of Lesser Poland, not of Silesia and before 1795 (see: Partitions of Poland), it had belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship.

The town is known for the famous Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra that is the home of the Black Madonna painting (Polish: Jasnogórski Cudowny obraz Najświętszej Maryi Panny Niepokalanie Poczętej), a shrine to the Virgin Mary. Every year, millions of pilgrims from all over the world come to Częstochowa to see it. There is also a Lusatian culture excavation site and museum in the city and ruins of a medieval castle in Olsztyn, approximately 25 kilometres (ca. 16 mi) from the city centre.

Poland - Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park

Another postcard sent by Jacek of Poland. This small town in Poland is in a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Work on building the Calvary was begun in 1600 by Mikolaj Zebrzydowski, the Voyevode of Cracow, who built the Chapel of the Crucifixion on the slopes of Żar Mountain. Together with a small hermitage, this was used by him for personal meditation.

However, Zebrzydowski was persuaded by the Bernardine (Franciscan) monks Tomasz Bucki and Ludwig Boguski to enlarge his original concept to cover an extensive landscape complex with many chapels, linked in form and theme to those in Jerusalem. It was conceived as being for the use not only of the local inhabitants but also of believers from elsewhere in Poland and in neighbouring countries.

The layout was the work of the distinguished mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor Feliks Żebrowski. He based it on the landscape of Jerusalem at the time of Christ, using a system of measurement that he developed to enable the urban landscape of Jerusalem to be reproduced symbolically on the natural landscape. This makes use of the natural topography, the Lackarańska Mountain representing the Mount of Olives and the Żar Mountain Golgotha, for example.

The sites chosen for the chapels that represented the stages in the taking of Christ and the Stations of the Cross were linked by tracks cut through the natural woodland and were marked first by a simple cross. These were replaced by chapels, nearly all of which were built between 1605 and 1632. The architect of the chapels was a Belgian, Paul Baudarth, and the influence of the Mannerist architecture of The Netherlands is very marked. In 1632 a wall was built (now no longer extant) which symbolized the urban limits of the Holy City, and also a system of routes that linked ten chapels associated with the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Only four further chapels were added - those dedicated to the Third Fall of Christ (1754), the Weeping Women (1782), St John Nepomucen (1824), and the Angel (1836). The original Bridge of the Angels was replaced by a new structure in 1907.

The Church of the Our Lady of the Angels and the Bernardine monastery were designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Maria Bernardoni. However, he did not complete the project, which was finished by Baudarth in 1609. The monastery was considerably enlarged in 1654-56, and took on the appearance of a Baroque castle.. A pilgrim chapel in developed Baroque style was added to the church in 1658- 67, to house a miraculous picture of the Virgin. The church achieved its present form at the end of the 17th century, whilst the monastery was enlarged once again at the beginning of the 19th century.

When the monastery was founded in 1617 the inhabitants of the town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska that had sprung up were allowed to rent part of its lands within the Calvary park. They began to clear the woodland for pastures, and in the mid-18th century they were allowed to build houses on their plots. A process of reforestation began at the beginning of the 19th century.

At the beginning of the 18th century the Czartoryski family, the owners of the park, built a palatial residence near the pilgrim church, but this was largely destroyed in the 19th century. At the end of World War II the plot on which the palace had stood, together with some surviving outbuildings, passed into the ownership of the state, which used it for the construction of a theological college.

Historical archives show that Kalwaria Zebrzydowska had many distinguished royal and noble visitors as well as countless pious pilgrims. Many were attracted by religious performances and ritual that were staged there. As early as 1613 Mikolaj Zebrzydowski had received permission to found a religious fraternity to organize religious ceremonies of this kind. Local people joined the Bernardine monks at Easter to take part in dramatic enactments of Christ's Passion. These religious performances were discouraged during the Austrian occupation of this region, but they were revived after 1947. In addition to the Passion procession at Easter, there is a similar event at the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in August. (Source)