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ID: CM-000320-P/162297

Cemetery in Chortkiv

ID: CM-000320-P/162297

Cemetery in Chortkiv

The cemetery is located on the outskirts of the town, on the western side, on the road towards Buczacz. It is surrounded by a wall, with a clear alley system, overgrown with both old trees and bushes. Polish and Ukrainian tombstones are mixed. In addition to the three preserved chapels, there are numerous variants of tombstones typical for this area of a simple cross on a base and plinth, as well as a cross ending in a trilliform. Tombstones are also relatively common. Few of the gravestones are elaborate and the quality of their workmanship is somewhat higher, such as the gravestone of Raczkowski (d. 1911). The form of the tombstones of Marcin Butr (d. 1915) and Artur Maria Jurewicz (d. 1930) is also interesting. Among the preserved stelae, one cannot pass by indifferently the gravestones of Stanisław Hoffbauer (died 1905) and Franciszek Kondyjowski (died 1927). The form of the aedicula on the tombstone of Anna Hartman (d. 1875) is also intriguing. Several cast-iron crosses also appear in the cemetery. For the most part, these are crosses made of tubing and standard castings. Against this background, an iconographically interesting cross made of slats entwined with grape vines stands out in particular, with a leaf-shaped titulus above. The cross at the base is flanked by Mary and St John. Below are depicted stems and heads of poppies and the roots of a vine growing out of the skull of Adam at the bottom of the composition, next to which are scattered tibias and a snake ( uroboros ) swallowing its own tail. An oval medallion is set into the whole. This form can be found on three tombstones in Chortkiv: Michal Bednarski (d. 1895), the Schattauer Family and an anonymous one. The cross made of welded railway rails on the tombstone of the engine driver Wincenty Sypniewski (d. 1898) is also original. We can also find several full-plastic figures: Immaculata, Mother of God with Child, Guardian Angel cuddling a child. However, these are typical casts, not distinguished by their artistic quality. The relatively small number of figures is noteworthy; one of the most interesting is the figure of the angel embracing a child on the grave of Krzysiek Tylawski and Tymoteka Harmecka. However, stylised representations of Immaculata predominate.

There are relatively numerous tombs preserved in the cemetery, most of them, however, with stylised forms. Among them, the unusual form of the tomb in which Wiktoria Gąsiorowska, Józef Jakubowski and Karolina Kulczycka are buried stands out. It was built on a rectangular plan, at the end of which there was a form of a chapel, in the central part with a rhomboidal opening. In turn, rectangular plinths were placed in the corners of the slab.

In the cemetery of Chortkiv 273 burial places have been found, including 20 tombs in which people who died before 1945 were buried. In addition, three Polish chapels and a monument commemorating fallen soldiers have been preserved. The oldest surviving Polish gravestone of Maria Kaniowska dates from around 1855. Among those buried at the cemetery, we can find such figures as Count Tadeusz Potocki, about whom, however, information is very scarce. It is known that he died in 1945. Wincenty Szpilczyński, the school principal, and teachers Tymotea Wanda Sarmacka and Stanisław Rembocha. Among those who died were: Józef Jakubowski, commissioner of the town of Czortków, surveyor Leo Wierzejski, Stanisław Czerwiński h. Lubicz, owner of Iwachnowiec, engineer Józef Czarny, nadgeometra Maurycy Głowacki, magister of pharmacy Zofia Negusz (died 1936), treasury councillor Marcin Stanisław Niedzielski (died 1931) . In addition, PKP employees: Józef Czabajowski, Wincenty Sypniewski (died 1898), August Szumski, Antoni Kupka. Among the families buried in the cemetery are the Kotowicz, Mentl and Fedorowicz families, the Urban family. The cemetery also preserves two tombstones in which sisters from the congregation of St Joseph were buried, in the first of which lie: Maria Leonarda Berbera (died 1918), Maria Celestyna Fierek (died 1915), Maria Brygida Garncarz (died 1937). On the second one, unfortunately, there is no preserved inscription.

Of note is the inscription preserved on the grave of Emil Holfincer: You have withered like a rose in the garden, you have covered me with heavy mourning, there is so much of my hope that I will soon be reunited with you , as well as the inscription on the same gravestone mentioning Antoni Kupka, an employee of the Polish State Railways (PKP): Over your grave your wife watches, longing mourning poisons her days .

Also buried in the cemetery are the Austrians Jan Hollauer von Hohenfelsen and Johann Smalucha as well as Anna Hartmann, Karl Latoschka, Ruhet Steiner (d. 1888).

Three gravestones with signatures of the stonemasons have survived:

OSTROWSKI / TARNOPOL - gravestone of Teresa and Jan Rudolf Jenkner

PAKUŁA / CZORTKÓW - gravestone of Maria Wawrowska (d. 1935)

J. GODZISZ / CZORTKÓW - gravestone of Maria Raczyńska (d. 1931)

Time of origin:

before 1850

Area:

5 ha

Active/inactive cemetery:

Yes

Bibliography:

  • Anna Sylwia Czyż, Bartłomiej Gutowski, Karolina Vyšata, Anna Zdzieborska, „Cmentarze dawnego powiatu czortkowskiego".

Date of documentation:

2006

Publikacja:

16.07.2024

Ostatnia aktualizacja:

10.11.2024

Author of the documentation sheet:

Bartłomiej Gutowski

Development / approval of the documentation sheet:

Bartłomiej Gutowski
see more Text translated automatically

List of cemetery objects

151
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