Podlasie Archives - Page 2 of 2 - just moving around just moving around

Travelling around Podlasie, we decided to go to Białystok for one day. Białystok is not only the capital of Podlasie but also the largest city in north-eastern Poland. We focused on the Branicki Palace, went out through the park from its back side, further turned right, where we walked around the Old Town, and for a few moments, we entered the Basilica, which is located between the old town and the palace, closer to the front of the palace.

The arch cathedral basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Białystok consists of two interconnected church buildings: the old Late Renaissance (from the beginning of the 17th century) and the new Neo-Gothic (from the beginning of the 20th century). The renaissance church looks like the left wing of the Neo-Gothic church. The first photo shows a small fragment of it. I took my photos in however the interior of the Neo-Gothic church.

The Neo-Gothic church is a three-nave structure with a single-nave transept, arranged like the Latin cross. It is 90 m long and 72.5 m high (counting in the towers). Below, yo can see photos of the Neo-Gothic facade and photos taken in the main nave with a view of the main altar and the organ. Let’s also pay attention to the beautiful floor.

The main altar is dated 1915 and made in the Neo-Gothic cabinet style. It is made of oak wood, varnished and polished. The linden wood was used for figures. Some elements have a golden ducat cover. The apostles are shown in the lower level. Above it, the main scene is about the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Higher we see the image of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Finally, on the wings of the altar, we see four scenes from Mary’s life. In the upper left section, the archangel Gabriel appears to Mary), and the upper right section shows St. Anna welcoming Mary. In the lower-left section, we see the Christmas nativity scene; in the lower right section, a priest is holding the Baby Jesus.

There are several other altars in the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Białystok, including the altar of Our Lady of Częstochowa (a painting in probably the most important sanctuary in Poland) and of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (a painting in a sanctuary in Vilnius). Unfortunately, not wanting to disturb the faithful praying in front of the latter, I did not take any picture of the latter not wanting to disturb the faithful praying in front of the latter. Below are a few more photos of the altars, stained glass windows and photos taken in the side aisles of the Basilica.

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Last Saturday we were visiting the North Eastern Polish region of Podlasie. It is a beautiful spot with almost no modern industry. Just forests, water, small towns and villages. Throughout our journey, I was sitting behind the wheel. The drive was a pleasure. Good roads and beautiful green landscapes.

On the way, we visited some more or less interesting places stopping for an hour or two. This region of Poland used to be a multicultural pot through the ages, with three religious communities coexisting: Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Jewish. On our way, besides beautiful green spots, we looked at one or the other site of a religious nature. One of those places was Saint Water, a sanctuary with a water dwell of presumably healing power. To be frank, I had never heard of this place before. But, as we were to decide where to go and where to stop for short sightseeing on foot, my fellows told me of ‘a hill with crosses’. But as we arrived and I took a look onto the hill, it exceeded by far my expectations. The ‘hill with crosses’ turned out to be a sanctuary where people could place a cross for gratitude, offer or prayer intention. It was nothing unusual. On my journeys, I saw a couple of places like that. One covered on this blog was far away in Japan. The idea was the same, only different confessions and different offerings. In Catholic Poland, it is crosses. In Shinto & Buddhist Japan, these were torii >>>.

However, what was astonishing for me was that it was not some idea by one or another fellow to offer a cross that launched the offerings. Saint Water was organised from scratch in 1997 and seemingly well planned in recent years by an outdoor greenery architect. On the premises, you can even find some small Bonsai cut trees. This place has nothing similar to surrounding it forests, where kings came for hunting in old times. I guess after the long suppression by Tsar Russia and long years of Soviet Communism in Poland that ended in 1990, somebody wanted to create a place of pilgrimage in this region. I barely think it is a place truly worth sightseeing. But from a chronicler’s duty, below some pictures of the hill and the sanctuary.

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