Shrines are inextricably intertwined with Polish culture and customs. They have always been important places for local communities, but when it comes to historic preservation, they are often lost in a sea of needs. Once built on the edges of cities, settlements and villages, today they stand in the center, often getting in the way of modern developments. Their time seems to have passed, but haven't they blended with our landscape enough to be cared for? The Olsztyn starosty is saving chapels, and the historic chapel in Stary Kawkow has been renovated.
The chapel landscape of Warmia
Shrines, figures and roadside crosses, Poland's "small sacred architecture." They are both signs of religious, social and cultural nature. Architectural richness of forms, from simple, wooden, to those richly decorated "gems".
How many chapels are there in Warmia? Certainly more than 1,300... However, they were not recorded in the state documentation. Part of this can be based on surviving post-war photographs, cartographic and newspaper sources and memoir literature. According to the authors of the monograph "Warmińskie kapliczki" Iwona Liżewska and Stanisław Kuprjaniuk:
The chapels and crosses associated with the Christian tradition are an important element of the landscape, a visible sign of religion, tradition and culture. They were erected at crossroads, along pilgrimage routes, on the border of state or bishop's estates, in the center of villages and near farms, in cemeteries and at churches. They were a sign of entrustment to God, a place of prayer and meeting or a testimony of thanksgiving.
Warmia was one of the Catholic enclaves where the prevalence of shrines prompted Liżewska and Kuprjaniuk to call the local landscape a shrine landscape. Chapels had been erected in Warmia since the 17th century, but the real rash of them came after 1877.
The rescued chapel in Stary Kawkow
The chapel in Stary Kawkow dates back to the late 19th century. At first it was demolished... However, the Olsztyn staroste was quick to recognize that the chapels in Warmia are more than just a recognizable part of the Warmian landscape, and began the painstaking process of saving the chapels. Two years ago, the county board, together with the local community, decided to save another one of them - in Stare Kawkowo.
The chapels are not only architectural gems, but above all our unique cultural and religious heritage. Many residents of Warmia cannot imagine living in their village without their chapel, the presence of which they have become accustomed to, under which they pray, lay flowers or just meet. Therefore, it is our duty to take care of the preservation of this heritage as well," says Andrzej Abako, Olsztyn starost in an interview with Radio Olsztyn.
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Chapel in Stare Kawkow | photo: radioolsztyn.pl
The chapel in Stare Kawkow probably dates back to 1881, and its interior hides a wooden sculpture of the figure of St. Joseph. And although it is a monument, it is of great importance to the local community. The chapel was practically rebuilt from scratch. A brand new statue went into its niche. And the old wooden sculpture of St. Joseph, after a thorough conservation restoration, cleaned of successive layers of paint with which it had been restored over the years, will go to the church in Nowy Kawkow after being protected from pests and moisture.
the role of shrines in modern times
The role they played in the daily life of the inhabitants of old Warmia is gone. Gone are the pilgrimages, the communal recitation of the rosary, and only the oldest villagers attend the services. But they are an undervalued heritage of our culture. The cultural potential of the Warmia region is rapidly degrading.
Left to their own devices, chapels are deteriorating, and conservation care is focusing attention on the region's larger structures. For years, the Olsztyn district has been allocating funds for their restoration, implementing a project called "Let's Save the Warmian Chapels." For more than a decade, it has succeeded in restoring the luster of dozens of historic objects, which unfortunately has been met with a discussion full of controversy. Why save shrines that are useless to anyone?
Nevertheless, the district administration is securing funds in the budget for the Olsztyn County Historic Preservation Program.
