Sacrum w parkach narodowych w polskich Karpatach

The sacredness of the national parks in the polish Carpathian Mountains

Summary: There are six national parks in the Polish Carpathian Mountains. They were created for the purpose of protecting the most important and valuable Carpathian ranges (tab. 1). These national parks are marked by the presence of The Sacred representing various types and different grades of intensity. The natural environment and its utilization had left a major stamp on the sacred presence in the parks, event before the three main national parks (Tatrzański, Babiogórski, and Gorczański National Parks) were set up. On the other side, the social and economic situation also impacted the Sacred, and this influence was very special and clearly evidenced in two of them: the Magurski and Bieszczadzki National Parks. Although those two parks are large, the presence of the Sacred is dramatically limited to ruins and traces of old Orthodox churches, wayside shrines, and cemeteries. Among the national parks under investigation, the Tatra Mountains’ National Park plays the key role. Over the years, the Tatra Mountains Tatry have been utilized in numerous, varying ways, and the history of all the efforts made to create here a special zone of protection is long and complex. Owing to this fact, this Park has the highest number of sacral objects. Some of those sacral objects are the oldest in the entire area; also, religious rituals and observances here are much more developed than in other parks. The two World Wars, I & II, highly influenced the presence of sacral objects in the parks (Magurski and Bieszczadzki National Parks). Except for the Pieniński National Park, in all of them there are structures devoted to soldiers killed in the wars. In the geographic and tourist nomenclature, there was found only one sacral reference in the entire Pieniński National Park. It should be accentuated that sacral objects are generally dedicated to different patrons and people. And again, the Pieniński National Park provides one exception with its only one patron saint: St. Kinga. From the mid-nineteen-eighties, a special group of sacral objects and religious rituals appeared that were connected with the person of Pope John Paul II. Their role in the parks continuously increases. In particular, the Małopolski Pope’s Tourist Route should be highlighted. In the Babiogórski and Gorczański National Parks, the majority of previous tourist routes are now included in the Małopolski Pope’s Tourist Route. Many of the sacral objects were erected before the individual national parks were created. Since their creation, objects relating to Pope John Paul II prevail.

Domański B., Skiba S. (red.), 2005, Geografia i Sacrum, tom 2, IGiGP UJ, Kraków, s. 389-402.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISBN 83-88424-43-2

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