Powązki Cemetery
 Example of lavish tombstones at the cemetery | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | November 4, 1790[1] |
| Location | Warsaw |
| Country | Poland |
| Type | Public |
| Size | 106.25 acres (0.43 km²)[1] |
| No. of graves | over 1 million[2] |
| Website | Unofficial website |
| Find a Grave | Powązki Cemetery |
Powązki Cemetery (Polish pronunciation: [pɔˈvɔ̃skʲi]; Polish: Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as the Stare Powązki (English: Old Powązki) is a historic cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city, and one of the oldest, having been established in 1790. The necropolis features graves of many illustrious individuals from Polish history, including those interred along the "Avenue of Notables" (Aleja Zasłużonych) created in 1925. It is estimated that over 1 million people have been buried at Powązki.[2]
The cemetery is often confused with the newer Powązki Military Cemetery, which is located to the north-west of the Powązki Cemetery.
Details
The Powązki Cemetery was established on 4 November 1790, it was consecrated on 20 May 1792 and initially covered the area of only about 2.5 ha. In the same year the Saint Karol Boromeusz Church, designed by Dominik Merlini, was built at the cemetery. The catacombs were also soon built.
Soon afterwards, several other cemeteries were founded in the area: Jewish, Calvinist, Lutheran, Caucasian and Tatar. The Orthodox cemetery is located not far from the Powązki necropolis.
Like many of the old European cemeteries, Powązki's tombstones were created by some of the most renowned sculptors of the age, Polish and foreign. Some of the monuments are excellent examples of various styles in art and architecture.
On All Saints Day (November 1) and Zaduszki (November 2) in Warsaw, vigils are held not only in the Roman Catholic cemeteries, but in the Protestant, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox cemeteries as well. At Powązki Cemetery, all the graves are decorated with candles.
Selected notable burials
A few of the notables buried here are:
- Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (1834–1861), composer
- Izabela Barcińska née Chopin (1811–1881), younger sister of Fryderyk Chopin
- Wojciech Bogusławski (1757–1829), writer, actor, director
- Jan Gotlib Bloch (1836–1902), banker • railroad entrepreneur • philanthropist • economist • economist • social activist
- Emilia Chopin (1812–1827), youngest sister of Fryderyk Chopin
- Ludwika Jędrzejewiczowa née Chopin (1807–1855), oldest sister of Fryderyk Chopin
- Mikołaj Chopin (1771–1844), father of Fryderyk Chopin
- Justyna Chopin (1782–1861), mother of Fryderyk Chopin
- Kazimierz Ołdakowski (1879-1940), prewar director of Fabryka Broni
- Gerard Antoni Ciołek (1909–1966), architect and historian of gardens
- Ignacy Dobrzyński (1807–1867), composer
- Jerzy Duszyński (1917–1978), actor
- Józef Elsner (1769–1854), composer and conductor. Piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin.
- Władysław Filipkowski (1892–1950), military commander
- Pola Gojawiczyńska (1896–1963), writer
- Józef Gosławski, (1908–1963), sculptor and medallic artist
- Leopold Janikowski (1855–1942), meteorologist, explorer and ethnographer
- Stanisław Janikowski (1891–1965), Polish diplomat
- Stefan Jaracz (1883–1945), actor
- Jan Kiepura (1902–1966), singer and actor
- Krzysztof Kieślowski (1941–1996), film director
- Jan Kiliński (1760–1819), freedom fighter
- Stefan Kisielewski (1911–1991), art critic and writer
- Krzysztof Komeda (1931–1969), jazz composer
- Henryk Kuna (1885–1945), sculptor
- Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994), composer
- Maciej Masłowski (1901-1976), art historian
- Stanisław Masłowski (1853–1926), painter-artist
- Witold Małcużyński (1914–1977), classical pianist
- Stefan Mazurkiewicz (1888–1945), co-founder of the Warsaw school of mathematics
- Jerzy Mierzejewski (1917–2012), artist and pedagogue
- Stanisław Moniuszko (1819–1872), composer
- Ola Obarska (1910–1992), singer and actress
- Antoni Osuchowski (1849–1928), philanthropist and national activist
- Lech Pijanowski (1928–1974), film-maker and game designer
- Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), journalist and novelist
- Kazimierz Pużak (1883–1950), died in the Communist prison, secretly buried in Powązki
- Władysław Reymont (1867–1925), Nobel Prize-winning novelist
- Edward Rydz-Śmigły (1886-1941) politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces
- Irena Sendlerowa (1910–2008), head of Children's Section of the Żegota
- Wacław Sierpiński (1882–1969), mathematician
- Andrzej Sołtan (1897–1959), physicist
- Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski (1893–1964), general
- Jerzy Waldorff (1910–1999), art critic and one of the benefactors of the Cemetery
- Melchior Wańkowicz (1892–1974), writer
- Henryk Wieniawski (1835–1870), composer
- Kazimierz Wierzyński (1894–1969), poet and writer
- Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932), aircraft designer and aviator
- Stanisław Wojciechowski (1869–1953), president of Poland
- Aleksander Zelwerowicz (1877–1955), actor and director, patron of the Warsaw Drama Academy
- Franciszek Żwirko (1895–1932), aviator
- Wojciech Żywny (1756–1842), first piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin, composer.
Gallery
Avenue of Notables
Saint Karol Boromeusz Church
Old Powązki
Edward Rydz-Śmigły grave
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Powązki Cemetery. |
- 1 2 "Historia Cmentarza Powązkowskiego" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- 1 2 "Najsłynniejszy cmentarz Warszawy". Retrieved 9 July 2017.
Coordinates: 52°15′07″N 20°58′22″E / 52.25194°N 20.97278°E