The necropolis located in the French town of Montrésor is a reminder of Poland's turbulent history. Buried in the cemetery's chapel, representatives of the Branicki, Rey and Potocki families created an emigrant 'little homeland' that continues to this day.

Polish history of Montrésor

A Polish page in the history of Montrésor dates back to 1849, when the dilapidated medieval château together with the surrounding estate was bought by Róża Władysławowa Branicka, née Potocka. She acquired the property not for herself, but with her son, Ksawery, in mind. It was he, as the first Polish owner, who restored the castle's splendour and created a unique Polish enclave in France.

Ksawery Count Branicki (1816-1879) donated 45 acres of land to the town with a future Polish necropolis in mind. The cemetery in Montrésor is located just 750 metres from the famous château ( described as the Polish cemetery of the week ), which towers over the town. The necropolis is approached via a main street with the telling name Rue Xavier Branicki, or Ksawery Branicki Street (1816-1879). He rests with his descendants and relatives in a burial chapel in the local cemetery.

Chapel of the Branicki family

Ksawery Branicki founded a chapel on the cemetery hill in 1863, designed by French architects: Vion, Oudet and Moreau. It was a magnificent building in neo-Gothic style topped with a dome, with underground catacombs underneath. The chapel was made entirely of local white-cream limestone with an admixture of clay minerals, which was quarried in underground quarries in the village of Mauvières. This stone is one of the soft stones and has little resistance to weathering.

The first to be laid to rest in the tomb was the founder of the estate, Xavier's mother, Rose. She was followed by Ksawery and other persons connected with the scloped Branicki, Rey and Potocki families were buried.

After 1831, Montrésor became a refuge for November insurgents. They rested in the local cemetery, adjacent to the chapel. The graves of several of them, including Rudolf Domaradzki and Witold Okryński, are still preserved today. Polish burials also take place here today. For example, in 2019, Jadwiga Prewysz-Kwinto (born 1935), née Kwilecka, who spent most of her life in France and was associated with Montrésor, was buried within the necropolis. Currently, about 60 people of Polish nationality are buried in the Montrésor necropolis, 30 of them in the chapel.

Almost all the people buried here were associated with the Branicki and Rey families. They are the descendants of Piotr Branicki of the coat of arms Korczak, who died in Lwów (1762).

Conservation work in the chapel

Documentation has been preserved to show the care that was given to the chapel. The first restoration took place in 1898 under the supervision of the architect Busaur, who drew up, among other things, drawings of the chapel's dome. The next stage of renovation work took place in 1909, paid for half by the Branicki family and half by Mikołaj Potocki. The two families entered into an agreement for the joint use of the chapel. Another significant renovation was carried out in 1928.

The chapel remains the focus of care for Polish cultural institutions, including the Polonica Institute. In 2016, restoration work began on the chapel and the cemetery. The south-western gable of the Branicki, Potocki and Rey chapel was covered first. Among other things, the bas-relief cartouche surrounding the Pilawa coat of arms of the Potocki family in a three-leaf panel was restored. In 2017, the bas-relief Pilawa family coat of arms on the triangular finial of the south-west wall of the chapel was reconstructed. The cornice of the temple's gable was also restored, including the crowning florin.

The work was carried out by a Polish art conservator living in Montrésor, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Jakub Kurkiewicz, under the supervision of Professor Janusz Smaza. The task was carried out with funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage awarded to the Academic Tradition Society under the 'Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad' programme.

Selected persons buried in the chapel:

Ksawery Branicki (1816-1879) first owner of the Montrésor estate, founder of the cemetery and chapel. Marked by his descent from his infamous grandparents, Hetman Branicki by marriage and Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki on the distaff side, he bore witness to his patriotism and devotion to the Polish cause throughout his life. It even got to the point that Tsar Nicholas I ordered him to come from Warsaw to St Petersburg to keep an eye on him. In doing so, he stated: "He is infected with a spirit of the worst kind; it is revolutionary France, grafted onto old Polishness". In the mid-19th century, he settled in Montrésor, where he successfully managed the estate donated by his mother, sparing no expense in both artistic patronage and political activity. He supported the conservatives Andrzej Zamoyski and the socialists Adam Mickiewicz. He financed the Trybuna Ludu and Polish troops during the Spring of Nations in 1848. He published military instructions for the insurgents of 1863.

He was also active as a financier: in 1851, together with Ludwik Wołowski and two French economists, he founded the banking institution "Crédit Foncier de France", established in the shape of the Warsaw Land Credit Society.

Henryk Potocki (1868-1958) was for many years a member of conservative groups: Party of Real Politics (president since 1917), Constitutional Labour Party, National Right Party, National Real Labour Party, Non-Partisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government.

In 1907, a member of the Polish Circle in the State Duma (parliament of the Russian Empire), in 1917 a candidate of the Regency Council for Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Poland, but was not approved by the occupying German authorities; later a member of the Provisional Council of State. In the interwar period, he was active in the authorities of the Polish Red Cross. In 1927, he and his wife went on a safari in Africa, a trip he described in the book W krainie Masajów . During World War II, he stayed at his family estate in Chrząstów, and after losing it as a result of communist expropriations, he left for France and died in Montrésor.

Stanislas Rey ( 1923-1999) buried in a grave without inscription, on which a terracotta bust has been placed. Owner of Montrésor, he was married to Marie, née Potocki (1929-2020). Montrésor is currently farmed by his son, Constantine Rey (b. 1953).

Seweryn Morawski (1923-1968) husband of Jadwiga Count Rey, daughter of Stanislaw and Jadwiga née Branicka, was director of the manganese mines at Imini in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. He was buried in Rabat, where his tombstone is located. Therefore, a peculiarity in the chapel is the commemorative plaque of a person buried elsewhere. The plaque in the tomb in Montrésor reads: "ON THE OPENING DAY OF WORK AT THE TIQUINE MINE / FOR THERE IS NO LOVE GREATER THAN THIS, TO LAY DOWN ONE'S LIFE FOR ONE'S NEIGHBOUR. / MANETE IN ME ET EGO IN VOBIS SEWERYN MORAWSKI".