Poland - Jasna Gora

Halfway between Warsaw and Krakow in the little town of Czestochowa, is the most famous shrine to the Virgin Mary in Poland.  It is the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, believed to have miraculous powers, residing in the monastery of Jasna Gora.  It is Jasna Góra's most precious treasure.

 

The monastery has a beautiful Cathedral in which to house their treasure.  Not only is the monastery a spiritual place for pilgrims, it is a mecca for tourists.  It is an active Catholic church and frequently services are being conducted amidst the hordes of tourists trying to make their way to the Madonna.  They do not close the church to visitors during services and they do not have any organization to herding the tourists through.  It was a melee of tourists crowding and pushing and little children making their First Communion, and an old woman having the misfortune to be seated in a chair in the aisle, trying to pray (probably begging God to rid the church of all these tourists!).  When the Holy Communion was over the priest led the kids out through the crowd.   He had to clear a path, practically having to push his way through, waving his incense and chanting the whole time like nobody was there.  It was really the most amazing sight.  Here is a picture of the crowds and of the Black Madonna, behind a locked gate.

There is a service going on. Is that supposed to be the Black Madonna?

What little can be seen of the Black Madonna looks nothing like the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I escaped the weirdness of the Cathedral, the rest of the church was not crowded at all.  It is a beautiful place.  I would highly recommend a visit to Jasna Gora.  Just avoid the Black Madonna.

Poland

Warsaw,  May 7-8, 2013

This past Spring, Bob and I took a 5 week tour of Eastern Europe.  This included two river cruises and some land tours.  It was a magnificent trip!  I had a professor in college who was Polish.

We flew to Warsaw from Denver.  We arrived in the early evening and crashed right away, so that day was shot.  The second day we were up early for breakfast and to begin an included City Tour of Warsaw.

I don't know what I expected.  Poland was the butt of so many jokes when I was growing up that I guess I thought it would be old and kind of decrepit.   I certainly didn't expect this new and shiny city! We had an interesting tour of Warsaw.  It was leveled by Hitler, another Stompy-foot leader who had to punish those who dared resist him,

so there aren't really any historical sites from WWII.  They have just completed a Holocaust Museum and Memorial (but the museum itself wasn't open yet when we were there.)

The Royal Palace in Castle Square, Old Town

Warsaw's Old Town isn't going to make you sigh in awe.  I thought it very pretty, but of course it can't compare to Krakow's Stare Miasto.  Nor Bruges, nor Brussels.  But Warsaw's Old Town was completely destroyed by the Germans, and had to be rebuilt by the Poles after the War.  They received nothing from the Soviets, and no Marshall Plan money from the US.  Yugoslav's Communist Dictator Tito got Marshall Plan money, but the Poles did not.  Perhaps it was impossible to assure the money rebuilt Poland and was not siphoned off to the Soviet Union.  Tito, though a communist dictator, ruled his own country as he saw fit and was not under the thumb of the Soviets.  That Marshall money went to the people of Yugoslavia.

A short history, from Wikipedia:

During the Invasion of Poland (1939), much of the district was badly damaged by the German Luftwaffe, which targeted the city's residential areas and historic landmarks in a campaign of terror bombing. Following the Siege of Warsaw, parts of the Old Town were rebuilt, but immediately after the Warsaw Uprising (August-October 1944) what had been left standing was systematically blown up by the German Army. A statue commemorating the Uprising, "the Little Insurgent," now stands on the Old Town's medieval city wall.

After World War II, the Old Town was meticulously rebuilt.  As many of the original bricks were reused as possible. The rubble was sifted for reusable decorative elements, which were reinserted into their original places. Bernardo Bellotto's 18th-century vedute, as well as pre-World-War II architecture students' drawings, were used as essential sources in the reconstruction effort.

My interest in Poland dates back  to my college days, 1969-73.  I had a political science professor who

made such an impression on me, it helped shape my views of the world and the people running it.   He was Polish and the story of his life is the most inspirational story I've ever heard (non-religious, that is).
Perhaps I will do a blog on him.

I think we had the best time just walking down "Embassy Row", as I call it.  All the big embassies are on the street.  There is a huge park right across the street, about 2 blocks from our hotel (Sheraton Warsaw).  We had a lovely stroll through it on a really gorgeous day.