Reflections of Czestochowa

Linking to Weekend Reflections

Hotel Mercur  Czestochowa Centrum - I would rate this three star hotel closer to a four or five star.  It is a great place to stay and it is so close to Jasna Gora (monastery). I walked up the slight incline which, to people in the flatlands of Poland, is a mountain to Jasna Gora early in the morning before all the tourist busses rambled in and was able to do a self guided tour without crowds. 

Jasna Gora possesses a painting of the Black Madonna which was painted by St. Luke on the cedar table of the holy family in Jerusalem. It was brought to Czestochowa in 1384 by Constantinople. People of Poland have been making pilgrimages to this monastery every since. 

 Look to the left wing for reflections of the phone.

Klobuck Cemetery - I never thought I'd get a selfie on a tombstone.

Building reflections of Jasna Gora on phone booths. That young man wanted to be in my phone so he showed off his leg.

More tombstone reflections of flowers and candles at Klobuck Cemetery.

Shrine of Our Lady Studzieniczanskiej

   

My guide took me east of Augustow towards the Belarus border – it is only 28 miles to the border. In 1689 paintings of the Virgin Mary were brought to the Studzieniczan. The area is famous for its miracles by drinking from a well on the island.    The village is called Studzieniczna after the healing well. This chapel was built in 1847.

Elk Chapel by the Lake at St Studzieniczna.

 Interior of Elk Chapel

 Elk chandelier

 This was built as an outdoor chapel and a  mass was held when Pope John Paul II came in June of 1999. There are actually three very small chapels here.

 A view of the lake.

As you walk east, there third chapel on an island. This one is very small inside which replaced a wooden chapel from 1857.

 Inside the 3rd chapel.

 Hundreds of rosaries are hung which have been left there.

 A statue dedicated to the pope on the island not far from the well that promises miracles of healing if you have faith enough.

Still on the island.

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Fences in Sztabin

Even though I was raised across the Atlantic Ocean in a small town in Idaho, I feel a connection to this land where all of my  grandmother's family lived and died. When I was younger, I had this inner desire to know more about my Polish side of the family. I think that this drive lead me into genealogy even though I did not read Polish - I did learn to read the language.

 Church of St. James in Sztabin, Poland built between 1905-1910 in a Neo-gothic style.

 Joachim Cheptowicz (1729-1812) was a Polish-Lithuanian Noble. He was a firm believer in helping the farmers to bring wealth to the economy.

 Interior of St. James Church in Sztabin.

 Sztabina Regional Office

Linking to Good Fences

I did not say anything about September 11 but it just breaks my heart to remember that day and the tears just start to run.

Sunset in Augustow, Poland

Linking to Wordless Wednesday

Augustow Kanal Locks

Linking to Weekend Reflections
and Shadow Shot Sunday 2

The Netta River close to the 2nd lock on the Augustow Kanal system.

 This is the second lock on the Augustow Kanal and the Netta River near Sosnowo Lock - part of the 18 Locks, with 14 being in Poland and 3 in Belorussia.  During World War II, the Germans blew up this lock and two more, plus a dozen bridges and eight weir (a low built dam) in Poland. The people of Poland rebuilt this lock in 1948.  

Sosnowo Lock

 Debowo Lock is the first lock on the Augustow Kanal system.

 Debowo Lock gatehouse.

 Jaminy village home

 Janowek is where my 2nd great grandmother Rose Zagorski lived before she married Karol Staranowicz. We still have Zagorski and Sadowski cousins who live in this area. They are very popular names so it is hard to find connections to the living cousins.

 A home in Jaziewo village where my Mathia Zdanowicz was born in 1747. I have no way to find which home he lived in and I am sure it is not a lovely modern home like this one. 

Rozalia Janewicz (born in 1809) from Jaziewo married Stefan Zagorski from Janowek in 1825 at the Krasnybor Church. These villages are so close together. This day I walked the streets where my ancestors walked. It is customary in these villages to build your home as close to the street as possible.

 Two residence of Jaziewo who live above everyone.

 Clouds reflected on these lovely lace curtains.

White Storks in Poland

Linking to Skywatch Friday

and Willy Nilly Friday 5

1. I never knew that white storks raise their chicks in Poland during spring and summer and then fly to Africa for the winter but avoid flying over the Mediterranean to get there. They eat mice, vermin, and insects from the farm fields so Poland actually makes wire nests above the utility poles for storks to build their nests. They also eat frogs and fish from shallow water. The female has a clutch of four eggs and both parents take turns incubating the eggs which hatch in about 33 days. 

 2. This road and barn is at Krasnoborki, a village just west of Krasnybor, Poland. It was a perfect day for picture taking. My Staranowicz family came from this tiny village. If you look closely, you can see a small white family shrine in front of the barn with a cross.

 3. If you read my previous blog, this photo shows the inside of the Church at Krasnybor. I think that the chandelier, which has been modernized with lights, are Elk antlers. I had very few ancestors who lived in Krasnybor but they came from all the surrounding villages to be married here (Sztabin, Janowek, Cisow, Kunicha, Jaminy, Ewy, Jaziewo, and Kopiec).

 4. I was surprised at how small the chapel was; these were two seater benches on the side. Just to think that my ancestors were baptized, married and probably had their funerals in this very church going back to the early 1700s. I can just picture buggies and wagons full of people on their way to the wedding being held at Krasnybor.

 5. Each tiny village that we came to had a sign with the village name and as we left the village, sometimes only a block or two, another sign appeared with a diagonal line crossed through the village name telling us we had left that village.

This was the sunset on the lake in Augustow, Poland where I stayed during my visit to northeast Poland. 

I just had to take a photo of this picturesque home that we passed by on our way west back to Sztabin on that sunny day.

Krasnybor, Poland

Linking to Good Fences

Good fences can be found anywhere in the world and these fences are all from northeast Poland. Krasny means red and bor means forest.

 Krasnybor Cemetery

 Originally, this church was built as a monastery in 1584. My ancestors were married in this small church. Today I walked where my ancestors walked.
 The lights and wires are attached to cement poles. I think that is very clever because we have to replace our wooden utility poles in Utah. Our poles are much taller for some reason too.

 Sztabin Cemetery, eventually even metal erodes away. If a grave becomes neglected and the stones or metals fall down, they reuse the grave for someone else.

 My cousins from the Siebiedzinski family put up this amazing tribute.

 Krasnybor Cemetery

 These old root cellars are still used; anyway that is what we would call them in America. My grandmother had an old dirt cellar beneath her kitchen where she used to grow mushrooms and keep things cold.

Tractors of Poland