My grandma's birthday

This year, in the middle of summer, we went to Gniezno to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. It was a chance to meet again, all of us (well, almost all, as not everyone was present). Needless to say more.

W tym roku, w połowie lata, pojechaliśmy do Gniezna, by uczcić osiemdziesiąte urodziny babci. Była to szansa na ponowne spotkanie w całym gronie (no, prawie całym, bo nie wszyscy dojechali). Więcej mówić nie trzeba.

Yeah,I love this picture... / Taaa, kocham to zdjęcie

Most of the guests (some, like my kids, were already asleep) / Większość gości (niektórzy, jak np. moje dzieci, już spali)

My parents and my, yeah, hard to say it, my aunt / Moi rodzice i, tak, ciężko to powiedzieć, moja ciocia

Bits and pieces from Poland’s early medieval history

You are already familiar with the legend saying where Poland, and Gniezno specifically, come from. Now it’s time to get you interested in Polish history. Early history.

Poland, as a country, is over a thousand years old. It’s dated back at least to the beginnings of its presence in the Christian world, starting with a country’s baptism in 966 AD. The first Polish rulers are believed to have lived in Gniezno.

The most famous building, that is visible before you even enter the town (at least from three-four directions that I recall) is its cathedral. Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Adalbert (in Polish: Bazylika Archikatedralna (Prymasowska) Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny i św. Wojciecha). I know, that’s a looong name. The building that we can observe nowadays is definitely not what the first church there looked like (destroyed in 1038), not even what the second one (built in Romanesque style and destroyed by Teutonic Knights in the fourteenth century) looked like. The cathedral that we can see nowadays was built in Gothic style somewhere in 1340s. Anyway, it’s a symbol of Polish Christianity and one of the most important Polish historic buildings.

What has it witnessed?

In the year 1000 AD the Congress of Gniezno – a meeting between Boleslaw I Chrobry, Duke of Poland, and Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, which gave Poland full ecclesiastical independence from Magdeburg.

Some royal coronations – starting with Boleslaw I Chrobry in 1024 and his son Mieszko II Lambert a year later.

Thousands, millions of pilgrims wanting to reach and pray at St. Adalbert’s coffin. How is it that Prague bishop’s coffin is placed in Gniezno and not somewhere in the Czech Republic?

St. Adalbert (or św. Wojciech in Polish) went on a mission to the pagan Prussian tribes, where he was killed in 997. Thanks to common efforts of Boleslaw I Chrobry and Otto III he was quickly canonised becoming the first Slavic bishop to become a saint. His body was bought back from the Prussians by Boleslaw I Chrobry for its weight in gold. Then it was put into a tomb in Gniezno Cathedral where it remains up to these days. Except that now it is placed in a silver relic coffin made in the seventeenth century.

Gniezno Cathedral is also known for one more thing. The Gniezno Doors. I don’t have any pictures of that, as we’ve both seen that before and Tuśko is still too young to appreciate it, so we didn’t see that. Instead we climbed the tower (239 steps) to admire the views of the town (as pictured here). But the Gniezno Doors are definitely worth seeing. They depict scenes from St. Adalbert’s life and are one of the most significant works of Romanesque art in Poland.

Gniezno was Poland’s first capital, as I’ve mentioned before. But the city was destroyed in 1038 by the Bohemian duke Bretislav I, which pushed the next Polish rulers to move the capital to Krakow (and Warsaw later in history).

My parents got married in this cathedral over 30 years ago.

Now some pictures from and of the cathedral itself:

The Cathedral and the monument of the first Polish king, Boleslaw I Chrobry

 Climbing the tower

Artur looking from the window on the way to the top of the tower at the monument of Polish first king, Boleslaw I Chrobry

  St. Adalbert's silver coffin

  Sorry for the skewed pictures...

 The most cliche and the most popular picture of the cathedral (as seen from the market square).

First stop – Gniezno!

Our holidays started with a two-night-stop in Gniezno. A place that I’ve visited so many times that I’d never ever be able to count. Both my parents come from there. Both my grandmothers used to live there. One of them still does. And that’s exactly where we stayed – at my grandmum’s. Artur got a chance to spend some time with his great grandmother and we got a chance to show him some parts of Gniezno.

Just a few words about Gniezno for those of you who know nothing or very little of it. And it’s an important town in Poland’s history, especially in the early medieval history.

Gniezno was Poland’s first capital city (it’s being questioned sometimes, but that’s what we’re taught and what we believe). There’s a legend saying how it even became a place of settlement and where its name and emblem come from. Here it goes (as recalled and beautifully retold by me):

Many moons ago three brothers – Lech, Czech and Rus – were wandering around the place searching for a place for their people to settle. Suddenly they saw a hill with an old oak and an eagle at the top of it. Lech said: ‘That’s it! That’s the kind of place I’ve been looking for! It’s here that my people are going to settle down. This wild eagle will be the emblem of my people and around this oak I will build my stronghold. Because of the eagle nest (in Polish gniazdo) I will call this place Gniezdno (nowadays called Gniezno).’ And he did as he said. The other two brothers kept on going. One of them, Czech, went to the south to find the Czech Lands. The second one, Rus, went to the east to create Rus (region).

Ok, so now you know where Gniezno, and the country built around it, come from. That white eagle is not only the emblem of Gniezno. A white eagle with a gold crown is also the emblem of Poland.

Here are some modern photos of Gniezno. And next time you’ll be able to learn about Gniezno’s role in Polish early medieval history. Can’t wait, right? ;)

 

 That's the eagle mentioned in the legend - the emblem of Gniezno

 There were emblems of various cities in the market square...

 ... including the one of Gdansk.

 That's my son and my grandmother.

 And that's a lamp that Artur was totally fascinated with! It changed colours so he wanted nothing more in the evenings that this lamp to be switched on in the colour-changing mode. Oh, and it was my son who took this picture.