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Cemetery in Slavut

ID: dok-000580-P/82237

Cemetery in Slavut

The Catholic cemetery, founded in the early 19th century, lies in the centre of Slavutha. Its area is 1 ha. The cemetery is now well cared for, as in 2014 -2019, thanks to the initiative of the Studio East Foundation, it was cleaned up annually by volunteers who also carried out basic restoration work http://studiowschod.org.pl/rslawuta2014.htm , https://www.studiowschod.pl/annopol-i-slawuta-mpooz-2019/ .

Zbigniew Hauser considers the cemetery in Sławut with one of the most interesting necropolises in Volhynia. Indeed, there are not only many magnificent tombstones here, but they are also very diverse in form and material. Hauser's opinion was not an isolated one and in 2016, at the request of the Polish community in Slavut, the cemetery was included in the list of cultural heritage monuments and gained the status of a monument of regional rank https://slowopolskie.org/kolejne-lady-polskoci-na-podolu-i-woyniu-otrzymay-rang-zabytkow/ . This is an important step as the cemetery had been devastated for years.

The most impressive monument, which is a kind of showpiece of the cemetery, is the stone gravestone of Ludwika Białaczewska, née Bayer, who died in 1870, where a slab with an elaborate, rhymed inscription features a pedestal with a cross decorated with drapery and a wreath and, supported on the pedestal, a full-figure sculpture of a thoughtful young man in ancient costume. Other interesting monuments show the forms of: a stone obelisk - the gravestone of Teressa Merwart, who died in 1897, a shattered column - the gravestone of Helunci Konopacka, a neo-Gothic burial chapel of Michał Bratyński, a cast-iron canellised column topped with a vase - the gravestone of Karolina Rudziejewska. There are also many other quite impressive cast-iron and stone crosses on pedestals, cast-iron and stone grave slabs, knotted wood and statues. According to Hauser, the gravestones were made in black and grey marble, yellow stone, cast iron, among others, and a few are covered with solid-coloured paint. Unfortunately, some of the tombstones were damaged, broken or missing fragments before the cemetery was declared historic.

In the nearby St Dorothy's Church there are six epitaphs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated to members of the Sanguszko family.

Information about the cemetery published (see bibliography).

Bibliography:

  • „Cmentarze polskie poza granicami kraju” , raport, oprac. B. Gutowski, Warszawa 2022 (maszynopis).
  • „Nekropolis. Projekt inwentaryzacji polskich cmentarzy na Podolu„”, katalog on-line, www.nekropolis.in.ua.
  • Hauser Zbigniew, „Podróże po cmentarzach Ukrainy”, t. IV, „Województwa: wołyńskie, podolskie, bracławskie i kijowskie”, Kraków 2009, s. 194-204.

Author:

Bartłomiej Gutowski, Alicja Czuber-Filonik
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