Roadsides chapels, on the crossroads, by the balks, on the borderlans of the villages. It is undoubtedly a symbol of faith ingrow into Polish landscape, into landscape of villages. How to tell in an interesting way about something that we often see, we pass by, and some make the sign of hte cross. Have you ever wondered where they came from and what they mean? There are several theories as to the orgin.
Christian tradition refers to the person of Saint Martin, or rather to his coat as the beginning of the chapels. The Latin name capella comes from the word cappa, or coat. It is about the coat of St. Martin bishop of Tours, who lived in the years 335- 397. This coat was worn by French kings for war expeditions and had protective significance. It was kept in a cel which were called the chapel, after on the model of this cels were built small buildings, in which were kept relics of martyrs.
The spread of rising chapels began as early as in the 4th century near sprigs, villages, on the borderlands, it was increasing the piety of the inhabitants and was beginning of new parishes. They were funded by villagers or wealthy people. Their builders were local artists and favored growth of forms and styles. Often used to have and still have the shapes of caves, small rectangular buildings, pillars, rotundas, cabinets hung on trees, small roofs and others. The patrons of chapels were often Mary,Jesus or saints. Their task was to protect the inhabitants, look after their families and homes, they were built in gratitude or payment for faults. Inside were placed carved figures of saints, patrons. The most common:
– Saint Joseph, the patron of families,
– Saints Barbra and Agatha, who guarded agonist lightning,
– Saint Florian, he defended the villages against fires,
– Jan Nepomucen, placed between fields, he was to takeing care of their irrigation,
– Saint Antoni, helped find lost things and guarded against thieves,
– Saint Anna, she helped find chosen one, and later she looked after the marriages,
– Sain Roch, he guarded agonist the plague,
– Sain Francis, patron of animals,
– Saint Nicholas, took care of orphans and chased away wolves from travelers.
Chapels delight with the shapes, ingeunity of authors and various of styles. Placed surrounded by bushes of wild roses or lilacs. Planted with flowers from the beginning of spring until late autumn. Decorated with ribbons, artificial flowers and decorated flower pot. In May are singing ‘Majowki’ in honor of Mary, followed by June celebrations in honor of Jesus.
House chapels, rectangular have symbolic significance – four walls mean – four final things: death, God’s judgment, purgatory and hell, four seasons, directions of the world, elemnts or cardinal virtues. The chapel’s vault means heaven.
You can also see pole shrines, whose may originate to pogan columns, on which were put the ashes of the dead, from above were covered with a roof. The pole is a common symbol of many cultures connecting the earthly and heavenly worlds.
Although nowadays thay are put in a completely different sense – tragically deceased in motion accidents, before they were once supposed to defend against the plague or promote the Christian Idea. Crosses are a symbol of the vistory of life over death, faith and hope, the resurrection of Jesus. They were used much earlier, before being adopted by Christianity, as an ornament symbolizing fertility, life and rain. The Chosen People described in Old Testament used the letter Tau (T) to defende against evil and mark their belonging to God Yahweh. In the Roman Empire the cross was associated with death , punishment and offenses. Commonly as a symbol of the resurrection and victory of life over death, the cross has been used since the 4th century, when Theodosius in 380 year , under the edict of Cunctos, proclaimed Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. Later, crosses and chapels arose whereever Christianity developed. According to legends in Polish lands everywhere where St. Wojciech paused to teach the residents were building a small religious architecture.
Types of crosses on Polish lands are, above all, the so-called Straignt with lines run vertically and horizontally Very often carved with a depressed figure of Jesus, who head falls on his chest. Jesus presents himself with two fingers extended in a gesture of blessing or as St. Peter of Damascus in the 3rd century descriebed to mark his two natures: divine and human.
Thera are also Orthodox crosses not only in countries where Orthodoxy is a national religion, but also in Poland. There are crosses with two or three lines. The lower line is placed inclined so the right arm points to the sky and left arm world of the underground. The cross is similar in its shape to the Greek letter X (he) and the shape of the cross on which died St. Andrew the Apostle, patron of the Orthodox Church.
The figure of Jesus in the Orthodox art has clenched hands and legs are nailed separately. In the Christian religion, Christ is depicted as a suffering figure, while in the Orthodox as victorious, Jesus’s body never hangs down inert on the cross. Often in the Polish lands are mixed styles of figures and crosses, figure of Jesus with extended fingers and legs nailed separately.
Caravaca – otherwise damn or pestiferous, crosses with two lines, usually the upper shorter than the lower. The name comes from the city of Caravaca de la Cruz in Spain, where one of the residents was endowed with the vision of stopping the plague by placing crosses and designating areas protected against disease. The croses caravaca gained their popularity during the Council of Trent in 1545 – 1563.
Also important were the trees on which crosses were hung or in the vicinityof which they were located. It is necessary to distinguish birches – a symbol of vitality, fertility, on which crosses were most often hung. Linden – guarding against evil. Oak – the king of the forest, habitat of good, played an important role in many beliefs. Hazel – is protecting against evil and witches. Also noteworthy willow, which was habitat of evil and could not be near the cross or even the chapel.
Crosses and chapels – small sacred architecture, played an inportant role in culture. They were placed in gratitude, e.g. for the recovery from a serious illness, in a protective sense, patrons would guard the family or all residets and ensure the good harvest of crops, forgivable for sins committed or commemorating – in places of the revelation of the sacred.
In places of small sacred architecture are organized in May and June, devotions or during the celebration of blessing the fields. The tradition of singing prayers was officialy accepted by the church in 1815, by Pope Pirus VII, From now on spread everywhere where Christianity. Currently, the tradition of celebrating services is slowly disappearing.
Chapels and crosses are protected against natural disasters, for example fires, hail, floods and lightning. They protected the inhabitants of the village against the plague and protected their belongings.
They were built at crossroads because there lurk evil, stray souls or devil. At the edges of the villages because they marked out bordersand safe zones, free from evil. There, also travelers were sayed goodbye or to those who were going to war, and were escorted pilgrims. Abroad were also escorted exiles and there were transported corpses of sinners and suicides.
The significance of small sacred architecture increased to a national symbol and was therefore destroyed by the Nazis and later communists.
Finally, the real story of a peasant, tired of work, who was returning home from the field after dark. Before the village border, a stranger approached him to ask for directions. The good man pointed the way and they were talking about trivial matters until they came to the chapel. The peasant believer in God made a sign of cross and at the same time his hat fell on the ground, when he bent he saw that the stranger had hooves instead of shoes. The devil as a sign of the cross disappeared, and the gesture of the cross saved peasant’s life. So the story to think about it..
