TREES BOUND WITH RELIGIOUS CULT IN POLISH COUNTRY LANDSCAPE

Zuzanna Borcz
Department of Building and Landscape Architecture, Agricultural University of Wrocław

ABSTRACT

In the paper examples of trees bound with objects of religious cult, found in Polish country landscape, are presented. In the first chapter trees situated near chapels, wayside-shrines or crosses are described; chapels are often surrounded by symmetrically planted groups of trees. The next chapter concerns trees found near village churches. Mostly they are reminders of former cemeteries, which due to urbanization progress are no more used.

Trees bound with religious cult such as limes, maples and acacias are an important feature in Polish country landscape.

Key words: chapels, churches, country landscape, trees..

A HISTORICAL OUTLOOK

In Polish country landscape there are often to be found groups of several or more trees tracing their origin back to the religious cult. Still in old heathen time in most European countries, trees were held sacred or they were considered as sites of pagan gods. A special idolatry was paid to big old oaks mentioned already in 12th century chronicles, for example Helmold from Holstein (Chronica Slavorum) described sacred oaks in Pomerania. They were surrounded by a fence with two wicket-doors. The entrance through them was allowed only to the prince and pagan priests to celebrate rites.

There existed an opinion that in dry-rotten oak trunks lived good or evil gods. It should be mentioned that several hundred years ago many old, big trees were to be found. A historian K. Hartknoch (1644-1687) writes about an oak growing in the town Welawa near Northern Polish border. Its trunk was dry-rotten and so big that a rider on horseback could turn round inside. In 1595 the Prussian prince Wilhelm and his son Friedrich have made such a probe; this fact was confirmed in a document edited at that time by a Welawa municipal office.

In order to uproot old heathen traditions, crosses or pictures of Holy Virgin have been hung on trunks of "sacred" trees once worshipped by pagans. In dry-rotten trunks shrines of various size have been installed; sometimes they were so large that a man had enough room inside.

TREES SURROUNDING WAYSIDE-SHRINES AND CHAPELS

Along with the progress of Christianity in Poland and in its Eastern regions, a tradition of erecting crosses or chapels, i.e. small sacred structures developed. They were wooden or brick buildings, inside them was a small altar with a painting or a statue of Our Lady or Christ. The cubature and form of such chapels were very different. The simple wayside-shrines were merely poles with a little wooden roof, shielding the statue. The bigger chapels looked like small roofed buildings having a door and windows, with a floor area of 1 to 2m².

Traditionally chapels have been surrounded with symmetrically planted trees, mostly four, sometimes six or only two. Often they were limes, also sycamores, ashes and poplars, among shrubs lilacs, guelder roses and rowans prevailed.

So wayside-shrines as chapels have been raised at cross-roads, on hills or at field paths. Some of them had a votive character, they were founded by a landowner or by village inhabitants as a prayer or as an offering. For example the chapel with a statue of Saint Floryan had to protect people and farms against fire. Sometimes chapels were erected to commemorate historical events, e.g .victorious battles. Apart from their essential religious function, shrines and chapels served for marking cross-roads, at times they designated way to some places.

Chapels are small architectural structures noticeable in a landscape because they are in the midst of trees. Trees were mostly planted in the same time when the chapel was erected. For centuries chapels and shrines have been restored or they went to ruins, while trees were slowly growing up forming in this way a significant feature in the rural picture (Fig.1).

Numerous examples of tree groups bound with a chapel or with a wayside-shrine can be mentioned. They are to be found especially in country regions, so inside settlements as in an open landscape (Figs 2, 3). It often happens that the suburban villages are included into the town terrains and with them also chapels surrounded by "their" trees. Today groups of symmetrically planted trees ringing out an old chapel or a wayside-shrine are to be found on the town borders.

GROUPS OF TREES SURROUNDING VILLAGES CHURCHES

In the country landscape, larger groups of trees are found in the vicinity of churches. They have been built in Polish villages very often, for example in Western region of Poland nearly every third village has a church. Mostly they are Catholic ones, however rarely Orthodox or Evangelical churches appear.

Sacred structures since very long have been surrounded by small cemeteries. Contrary to towns in which cemeteries localized around the church have been liquidated with the progress of urbanization, in villages they existed still to the half of 20th century. Reminders of former village cemeteries are old trees, chiefly planted along a fence. Sometimes in larger cemeteries existed also alleys leading from the gate to the church. The acreage around the church is usually between 0.14 ha and 0.6 ha. This rather small terrain is densely planted with trees. The number of trees is usually above 20 and amounts to 45.

Limes have been planted very often, they are to be found in almost every nearby-church stand of trees. Limes surround the whole cemetery terrain and form alleys, often they are old trees girthing about 3 m and having beautiful, large crowns (Fig.4). In stands appear maples, sycamores, ashes, horse-chestnuts and acacias. Besides deciduous trees, also spruces and thujas have been planted. Ivy is climbing trunks of many trees and the brush-wood is often ground-ivy covered (Figs 5).

In order to present the most frequently occurring species of trees, so deciduous ones as conifers, six villages of the Lower Silesia (Western region of Poland) have been selected. Table 1 summarizes the species and number of trees planted around the church in these villages. In every case a cluster of trees with a church steeple rising over them is a significant contribution to the country scene.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Groups of trees bound with religious cult, so surrounding way-side shrines as well as village churches went through many changes in spite of wars, as well as socio-political and economic transformations, and they mostly survived to our times. They are an important element of the rural verdure and deserve a special protection for the maintenance of the traditional character of Polish country landscape.

REFERENCES

1. Z. Borcz, 1996. Transformation of the country landscape in Poland over last years, Landscape Issues, V. 13, 1/2, 4-11

2. Z. Borcz, 1997. Hohe Bäume im Dorflandschaft, Natur und Landschaft Nr 2, 96-9

3. Z. Borcz, I. Niedźwiecka-Filipiak: An polnischen Fernstraßen, Baukultur, Nr.3, 2000, 34-37

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