Kościoły w środowisku geograficznym Podhala

Churches in the geographic environment of the Podhale Region

Summary: The paper looks at the place and role of churches in the geographical environment of the Podhale region in southern Poland. The study area consists of seven ‘southern’ deaneries of the Cracow Archdiocese. They largely correspond with the physical geographic macroregion of Podhale. Initially, 76 parish churches were included in the study, to which a historic non-parish little church of St. Anne’s in Nowy Targ was added in the process. Based on fieldwork and cartographical material (maps and plans), as well as on literature and web sources each church was documented using a questionnaire form and photographs. Data included on the special comprised the number of the facility, locality, parish name, patron saint, year of build, previous temples, construction type, geographical orientation, ethnographic area, physical geographic region, catchment basin, elevation above sea level, relative elevation, local geology, terrain form, mesoclimatic location, distance to the nearest watercourse, churchside vegetation, land relief transformation, natural disasters, location in relation to the parish, to the main village and roads, visibility of the church, view from the church, church as orientation landmark and remarks. The collected data was than transformed into a uniform database. A detailed analysis was performed for selected features including the church network density in the physical geographic and ethnographic regions, elevation pattern, location within geological structures and terrain forms, distance to watercourses and churchside vegetation, location in relation to other buildings and roads. The landscape significance of the churches was defined using the number of panorama ‘plans’ visible from the church (distant, medium and near panoramas), the breadth of the vistas and the role of the churches as landmarks. Ten church landscape types were identified in three groups of panorama ‘depth’. Within the groups the types were subdivided depending on the restriction of the view by trees and buildings, and on the role of the church as a landmark (tab 1.). The analyses have shown that religious needs of the local community is the key factor of church localisation. Hence, the great majority of the temples are located in village centres where they are easily accessible, highly ranking as a building and sometimes have a ancient defence role. During the last 50-80 years, a tendency has surfaced to locate churches outside village centres and sometimes even beyond densely developed areas or in their outskirts, as a result of the lack of a convenient central location, a reduced role of immediate accessibility and possibly also due to the aesthetic reasons. Many churches are prominent landmarks. Important in the past this role has gained in significance at the time of increased tourist traffic, including pilgrimages. The analysis of the church location shows that the temples constitute examples of architecture located with due respect to the laws of nature, typically at a safe distance from flood-threatening watercourses and steep landslide-prone slopes. The churches typically conform to the local landforms. In those rare cases where a new church required a material land relief change the slopes would be promptly strengthened and vegetation reintroduced. With their attractive architecture churches tend to play an important landscape role by contributing to its appeal and diversity. The landscape role of churches seems even greater in mountainous and hilly areas where temples are potentially visible from many directions and over long distances and views from the churches are typically ‘deeper’. This role is however contradicted by the local vegetation that, intended to make the church pretty, gradually covers it from sight. Church visibility changes seasonally. It is greatest outside the vegetation period when the dominant deciduous trees are devoid of foliage. Preservation of the landscape function of churches requires planning and monitoring of the churchside vegetation. Often little more than tree trimming is needed to considerably improve the church landscape role. In the opinion of the authors the landscape role of churches at least significant, in Podhale and beyond. It can often be enhanced with relatively little effort, such as well thought-out location, good architectural design, wisely planned and managed near vicinity.

Domański B., Skiba S. (red.), 2005, Geografia i Sacrum, tom 2, IGiGP UJ, Kraków, s. 137-150.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISBN 83-88424-43-2

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