Ward Goes to Poland, Churches

Ward recently took a trip to Poland and occasionally does a guest post here about his trip.

St. Mary's Basilica, Krakow. 

I don't pretend to understand the religious history of Poland, but I did learn a few things on my trip.  We saw a number of churches and cathedrals that had changed throughout history, to and from different religions as the ruling countries changed. At the end of the post, I tried to do a brief summary, if you're interested in a little more detail.*

The Polish constitution allows for religious freedom, but over 70% of the population identifies as Roman Catholic (7% say they do not identify as having a religion, the 0.4% are various Protestant religions). And because Christianity is considered an important part of Poland's history and culture, it is taught in schools. 

Currently, religious education is 2 hours/week, but a proposal is to cut it back to 1 hour/week and not count the grade in the GPA. Not everyone is happy about that, and we saw protests against the change. I found all of this very interesting because it is so different than our treatment of religion that we are familiar with in the US. 

The protest we saw for Solidarity in Warsaw. Our guide said that it was about the issue of cutting back on religious education in the schools, among other things.

Most everywhere we went, we saw beautiful churches and cathedrals. I had to Google the difference between them:

A church is a general term for any Christian place of worship, while a cathedral is a church that serves as the seat of a bishop and is the main church of a diocese. A basilica is a church designated by the pope for its historical and architectural significance, and a chapel is a smaller place of worship that typically does not have a permanent congregation or priest.

Here are a few of the churches and cathedrals we visited.

This is St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Wroclaw. It is a Cathedral because it is the Bishop's church, and is the seat of the Archdiocese of Wrocław. 

St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Wroclaw

Brass model of the cathedral. We saw a lot of these brass models outside many of the churches.

Inside St. John's Cathedral. Every time, I was impressed with the grand, tall, open space.

Next, we saw St. Elizabeth's Church in Wroclaw.

The tower was originally 130 meters (425 feet) tall, but was destroyed by fire. When rebuilt, it is now only 91 meters (300 feet) tall.

St. Elizabeth's Church official name is the Garrison Church Military and Civil Parish of St. Elizabeth. I think it got that name as part of the de-germanification of Poland at the end of WWII. This church was originally built in the 14th century. The old stone plaque is in German because this had been a Lutheran church since 1525. It was Lutheran until the end of WWII, then became a Catholic Church. The more recent sign (in Polish) has mass schedules. 

Inside St. Elizabeth's

Next, we visited Kraków. Kraków was the capital of Poland for many years before Warsaw became the capital. This was because the King had made an alliance with Lithuania, and Warsaw was more central in the new kingdom.

Very pretty St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow's town square.

St. Mary's Basilica at night on the town square, which is active both in the daytime and at night. 

In Warsaw, we visited Holy Cross Church, which is famous because

Frederick Chopin's heart is buried in a crypt here. He died in Paris, but told his family he wanted to be buried in Poland. It was too hard to bring his whole body back, so his sister cut out his heart and brought it back to this church in Warsaw in a jar filled with cognac, approximately 1850. 

The church is also really pretty (but they are all pretty) and supposedly has a splinter of the original cross. 

The Holy Cross Church, with a painting by Canaletto in the mid-1700s of the same church, and a photo below of the church after the devastation of WWII.

You can't tell from the photo, but the interior of the church burned to the ground, so the church is just a shell at this point. 

We went off the beaten path to visit the town of Lomza, where there were church records of my ancestors. It was very interesting to see descriptions of marriages and births.

The Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel at Łomża. We met with a records specialist here who helped us find and decipher family records. Some were written in Russian and some were written in Latin.

The next day, we went to Miastkowo, which is a small town with the parish church nearest to the village of Czartoria, where my family was from.

Here we found more records, but there was no one to translate them for us, so we took pictures, hoping to find someone to translate them later. We also saw several family names in the church cemetery.

One afternoon, we toured Krakow's Jewish District. This district was named Kasimierz after King Kasimir III, who, in 1335, formally declared the area, then a suburb of Krakow, a town where Jews and ethnic Poles could peacefully coexist. That happened until WWII.

Notice the white wall on the right-hand side of the picture. The top of the wall is street level. The white building with the green roofs is a synagogue that was built below street level because Jewish synagogues were not allowed to be taller than any Catholic church.

We saw more beautiful churches, both inside and out. And they made me wonder about the money and labor that went into creating them.

*I tried to boil down the very complex religious history in a few words below. I think I got the general points right.

Roman Catholicism formally began in Poland in 966 AD and has been the predominant religion in Poland since then. Other Catholic religions (Greek and Russian Orthodox) have a part in the history of the country and have current populations.

While the borders changed (frequently) with Germany, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Czech, and Hungary all exerting dominion over Polish territory at some time over the last several centuries, the dominant religions of those countries extended into Poland. 

Also, the Protestant Reformation affected Poland, with Lutherans (mostly from Germany) and Calvinists (from Switzerland) coming to and staying in Poland.

In the Middle Ages and into the Enlightenment period, Poland was relatively more tolerant of religious diversity than most of the rest of Europe, so there was an influx of people of different religions (Baptists, Moravians, Jews, etc.) looking to settle there to practice their religions in peace.

Ward Goes to Poland, Food

 
Ward recently took a trip to Poland, and he is sharing some of his experiences here. 

This was a family sampler (otherwise known as the "Trough of Variety) we had in Wadowice. There was more food than the four of us could eat.

I didn't know anything about Polish food before I went. Still don't know much, except what I saw in restaurants where we ate most of our meals. Here's a summary of my restaurant adventures.

Pierogis are considered the national food of Poland. You'll find these on _every_ menu in _every_ restaurant. Pierogis are dumplings, always boiled, then sometimes baked or sauteed. They are made with unleavened dough, wrapped around a variety of fillings, including potato, cheese, sauerkraut, different meats, mushrooms, and more. Sweet varieties have fruits or berries. The dough sometimes includes mashed potatoes for a smoother consistency. Savory pierogies are often topped with bacon bits, sour cream, or caramelized onions. They are typically served six on a plate with toppings. My favorites were the sauteed pierogis.

Typical plate, this was a variety plate with two each of meat, mushroom and sauerkraut filling. I cut them in half so I could tell which was which.

An interesting side note on the pluralization of the word pierogi:

• one pierog (PEE-er-oog)
• two or three or four - pierogi (pyeh-ROH-ghee)
• five or more - pierogow (pyeh-ROH-goo)

A family member described it like this - Mr. Pierog, Mr. and Mrs. Pierogi, or the extended Pierogow family.

These are larger than normal.

Another meal I frequently encountered was goulash with potato pancakes. The goulash (stew, usually pork) is sometimes served on the potato pancakes (see photo above, across the table), other times separately in a bowl (see photo below).


We got a lot of soup and had it at almost every meal. It was usually either tomato or a traditional sour rye soup that is sometimes served in a sourdough bread bowl.

There was a hard-boiled egg in the soup.

When we stopped for lunch in Kielce on our way to Łomża, I had what may have been the best tomato soup I've had on this trip (even though I've been pleasantly surprised with pretty much every meal I've had on this trip).

And schnitzel was a common option on most menus. Basically, country-fried steak, either chicken or pork.

I think a lot of Polish words translate to "salad". This plate had schnitzel, French fries, salad, salad, and salad.

We got vegetables at every meal. Not surprising except for breakfast (in my experience). Hotel breakfasts include scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage (looked like boiled hot dogs), sliced tomato and cucumber, sliced breads (toasted if you like), and butter.

We ate very well on our trip, and I liked all the food I had. Surprisingly, none of us gained any weight. I guess it was all the walking we were doing. The only thing I really missed and wanted to have when I got home was a good burger. I rarely saw hamburgers on the menu.

Until next time...

P.S. Can't leave without mentioning the "Kremowka z Wadowice" aka "Pope Pies". Before he was Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla was a priest in Wadowice, and he loved these pastries from a particular bakery in town. Then, after he was Pope, he mentioned that in an interview, which resulted in the bakery becoming famous for its Pope Pies.

Pope pies

Ward Goes to Poland, The Salt Mines

 Ward recently took a trip to Poland. He is sharing some of his travels here.

As soon as I decided that I was going to Poland, anyone who had any knowledge of the area said I had to visit the salt mines. I had been in coal and lead mines before and wasn't sure I needed to visit another kind of mine. However, we dutifully added it to our agenda. In my wildest imagination, I couldn't have guessed what the salt mines were like. 

Salt has been known to be present in the area since Neolithic times, when briny springs were discovered. Evaporation methods were used to harvest salt for preserving meats and as a form of currency. (During that time, many transactions were paid using salt, which is why nowadays, the term “salary” is used to describe earnings.)

There are several large salt mines in Poland. The oldest and best-known is the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow. We visited this one. It was definitely unique, but parts of it did remind me of limestone caverns I've visited, like Luray Caverns in Virginia.

The entrance to the Wieliczka Mine.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine has many large caverns that were created with tunnels and shafts connecting them. Over the centuries, miners created statues and carvings in the walls depicting religious scenes and famous people. These are the main tourist attractions now. They created several chapels where Catholic masses are still held today.

This mine has produced salt since the thirteenth century (1200s). In the Middle Ages, the Wieliczka Salt Mine generated one third of the Kingdom of Poland’s income under King Casimir III the Great (he reigned from 1333 to 1370). Tourism began in the late 1700s, and dignitaries started visiting the mines, and they were developed more and more for tourism as time went on. Mining continued into the 1990s. 

The mine was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978 and remains a major tourist attraction today.

You have to go down a stairwell to get into the mine. There were 300 steps to get to the main tourist level. I twisted my knee on the first day, so I am happy it held up for all the steps. There is an elevator to get out of the mine.

We walked down old corridors of the mine. Salt walls, salt floor, salt ceiling.

Part of the mine had been turned into a museum. This diorama exhibit shows the early days when salt was processed from brine.

At one point, horse-drawn sleds brought salt, miners, and tourists out of the mine.

Some of the exhibits were carved from salt.

There were many salt statues of kings, saints, and famous people.
This one is Nicholas Copernicus.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, famous in his day,
traveled throughout Europe, including Poland.

There were many religious scenes carved in the walls.

There were even four chapels in the mines where they hold services.

This is an overview of the ballroom, which you could rent out. Notice the carvings in the walls. Carvings were everywhere. Chandeliers were made of halite (rock salt) crystals.

After this visit, I understand why this is on everyone's must-see list.

Until next time...

Ward Goes to Poland, Overview

 Ward is going to be doing a few posts about his recent trip to Poland. Here is his first.

As you may know, recently I took a trip to Poland with my brother and sister-in-law. The motivation for the trip was to see where my great-grandfather immigrated from. After much consideration, we hired a guide for the entire trip. That way, we could personalize what we wanted to visit and make it to the remote town of my ancestors. That was one of the best decisions we made. Jarek, our guide, was great. He drove us everywhere and arranged all of the tours and contacts for what we saw. 

Jarek, our guide, and the van he drove us around in. He kept it spotless.

If you're like me before the trip, you may not know much about Poland. Here is a bit of background information.

--How big is Poland? Poland is larger than the UK or Italy. If it were part of the United States, Poland would be the fifth-largest state, bigger than New Mexico but slightly smaller than Montana. Poland is the fifth most populous member of the European Union.

--Bordering countries - Germany lies to the west, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia border Poland to the south. Ukraine and Belarus border to the east, with the Baltic Sea, Lithuania, and a small bit of Russia (the Kaliningrad Enclave) to the north.

--Northern and central Poland is relatively flat, while the southern portion is hilly and mountainous. These are part of the Carpathian Mountains, locally known as the Tatra Mountains, which are a major outdoor recreation area for skiing, hiking, and other activities.

We hiked in the Tatra Mountains one day.

--Polish uses the Latin alphabet with 9 extra letters we don't use in English (these extras are English letters with diacritical marks). Some of the letters may look the same as ours, but they make different sounds - for example, W sounds like V, and Ł sounds like a W. I found that very confusing. Once again, I am so happy we had our guide.

-- Poland has a long and complicated history with many wars and boundary changes over the last thousand years. One thing I noted from the various histories I saw was that the country was very tolerant of different religions (Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish communities coexisted peacefully, except when the country was ruled by outside powers).

Driving east from Wroclaw to Boleslawiec.

--Overall, my impressions of Poland were very positive. The cities and countryside were very clean, with no litter. People were polite and friendly. It seems to be a modern country with superhighways, windmills, and cellphone coverage everywhere, etc.

Until next time...