House with original interior in Poland. Modern Polish wooden houses Polish rural painted interiors

The most interesting part of the journey through rural Eastern Europe begins. The Baltic states, even though I had only been to one country before, are still very Soviet, everyone speaks Russian... Poland is a different matter. Poland has been in the EU exactly as long as the three Baltic countries - nine. But despite their common socialist past, the countries developed slightly differently. So what have they done in a little less than a quarter of a century without the “big brother” of the USSR?

One and a half thousand kilometers "zigzag", of course, is too short to understand this country. But to get into it - just right, especially since Chevrolet and I tried to choose the smallest, narrowest, but very beautiful roads!

1 I left Lithuania while it was still dark, in thick fog. It's good that Baltic drivers drive politely and keep speed, especially in bad weather.

2 Another conditional checkpoint. Of course, there is no one there and the passage is free. What a beautiful world without borders! I can imagine how much time I would have lost on exactly the same trip if there were borders between each country. Although I imagine it very well, two and a half years ago I traveled through seven Balkan countries in a month and crossed borders many, many times. (*see travel Balkan stars
)

3 Poland. Previously, these letters meant a completely different world for Soviet people. Getting to Poland was a happiness that was not available to everyone. And even now it should be more “European”. Let's see.

4 After a couple of kilometers there is a pedestrian crossing right on the highway. Because it is foggy, a woman in a bright uniform with a large stop sign stands at the crossing and helps to cross the road.

5 This was not the case in the Baltic states. In Russia - even more so. And it’s unlikely that it ever will be.

6 I like the interior of the Captiva, it turned out to be quite American and recognizable. Although why didn’t they change the nameplate on the steering wheel in the restyled version? In modern Chevrolets it is different.

7 I drive along the highway for a bit. They exist in Poland. Directly - Russia, Kaliningrad region. But I don't need to go there. Someday, another time. And without stupid boundaries.

8 Autumn foggy morning in the Polish wilderness. It smells very tasty, I want to tell you!

9 The neat little villages are left behind.

10 Not far from a town called Elk, an elk appears on the road. More precisely, a moose cow. Jumps over wooden fence and begins to slowly cross the road, clicking his heels on his long legs. (and Elk in English is elk. Funny coincidence)

11 I noticed the moose from afar, so she did not pose any danger. I stopped to take a photo of her. The forest beauty turned around to look before disappearing into the bushes. Didn't I turn around to see if she turned around?

12 The roads are most often good. There is no trash along the roadsides. And this is perhaps the only thing that distinguishes the local nature and environment from Russia.

13 There are a lot of cows. We don't have that much in the fall. It's cold already.

14 Mu! Ventspils says hello.

15 Do you believe that in such a half-abandoned railway, maybe a real locomotive might suddenly pass by with a roar? No? But in vain.

16

17 Sometimes the road leads through the outskirts of very different cities. I don’t even remember them, although I want to go straight to some dormitory area and take a walk there. See how Poles live in Soviet box houses. But not at this time. Travel is “rural”, about small places. And not multi-apartment anthills.

18 Polish cities look very different. Some are very well-groomed, some are completely shabby. But where did the inscription " Kosovo This Serbia"? Well, yes, I don’t like Albanians either.

19 There are a lot of traffic cameras. They are in almost every village. Drivers drive carefully. I think the relationship is obvious. I have a radar detector with me, which I thought about using in Russia, but even there I couldn’t get it. You know, it’s easy not to violate. And I advise you.

20 Just some Polish village that I dropped in for a minute.

21 Beauty!

22 One very interesting shoot went wrong for me. It’s my own fault: I entered the first village of Petrovo that came across into the navigator, although there are a dozen of them in Poland. I began to realize that something was wrong only a couple of kilometers away. As a result, I arrived, talked with local residents and realized that I had come to the wrong place. I photographed them for memory. I’ll say briefly about communication, but separately: in Poland they don’t speak Russian, and you hardly know Polish. But communication is possible, and very easy. To understand Poles fluently, you need to speak a little Ukrainian (these languages ​​are even more similar) and use your imagination. For example, you can guess what “gurtovnya” or “zayazd” is without a dictionary.

23 Everything is clear, right? Restaurant, overnight stay.

24 Sometimes it's funny. They don't write motel, but "motelik". You probably know about the ugly beauty. And almost all Slavic peoples call the theater a disgrace.

25 An interesting tradition in Poland. It is customary to park old airplanes near gas stations. Like decoration, but still - why airplanes? I've seen this happen many times, and always right next to gas stations.

26 The towns and villages themselves are much neater than ours. Not surprised.

27 In some places it is very similar to Belarus. I’m also not surprised, they are not shy about learning from the Poles, and half of the country was once Poland.

28 Beautiful, neat, pleasant. This is the case in almost every village. You won't be able to guess the country from a photo. They don't live richly here at all. But you don’t need a lot of money to live with dignity. It's just a matter of accuracy and attitude towards yourself and your land.

29 Bicycles are sold near the roads. As I understand it, they are more in demand here than plush Chinese toys of poisonous colors.

30 This is still possible to meet.

31 But simultaneous road repairs are underway throughout the country. They are not just patched up, but expanded and reconstructed.

32 The end result is these beautiful highways. And the speed limit here is not even 130, but 140 kilometers per hour.

33 We are turning onto local roads again. It will be more interesting further!

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Travel through rural Eastern Europe supported by car brand

First of all, impressions of Poland. On this moment I'm absolutely delighted. I really have visited a lot of places in Europe, but I don’t seem to remember such admiration for a foreign power. Poland combines much of the best that this continent has to offer. Here the roads and provinces are the same as in Germany, England or Sweden - only the latter are even more beautiful. No abandoned fields; wildlife bridges over roads; an insignificant percentage of high-rise buildings and at the same time large personal plots magnificent private houses, equally pleasing to the eye in any, even the most remote place. And at the same time, there is no this completely unbearable “correctness” of Western Europeans, which is expressed, for example, by the Germans in incredible pedantry and predictability. There are a lot of tourists here, but among the locals I have NEVER seen barbarians, with whom, alas, many good countries are filled. It’s like they’re just not here, can you imagine? The Poles seem to have taken the best from their neighbors - the ability to live quality lives, like in the west, and at the same time - healthy indifference from the east. How do they combine it? Don't know. But I could easily live here with a feeling of the superiority of this country over any Europeans (I am a patriot, but an objective one). It is also inexplicable to me that prices here are orders of magnitude lower than in Germany and seem to be comparable to Russian ones. As a St. Petersburg resident, I was also pleased with the climate, which is ten degrees warmer. What kind of morning frost is there? Summer has just ended here. I hope these delights will not be dispelled by any negativity.

Needless to say that Poland has a great variety of pagan Slavic antiquities? This country includes part of the Slavic ancestral home; there is no such era when modern territory Almost from their very appearance, the Slavs would not have constituted a significant, or rather the predominant, part of the population. Since this time we only have a week, we decided to explore only the most significant points, unfortunately missing out on a lot. At the same time, without further developing the topic, I will note that little is known reliably about ancient Polish paganism - we know almost more about the paganism of the same Semi-Baltic Slavs on the territory of Poland, and yet this is the only community (Pomeranians) that has already been conquered in the 12th century

Day 1. Bald Mountain (Świętokrzyskie Mountains)

Upon arrival in Poland in the late afternoon, October 21, we took a car at the Warsaw airport and drove south. Since the airport is also located in the south of the city, we haven’t really seen the capital yet - after driving several miles of “sleeping” areas, we left Warsaw, leaving it for last. However, the city is not at all ancient and, as far as I know, there is nothing significant here for the Slavic pagan culture.

The first point of the trip was Bald Mountain in the Świętokrzyski Range. Alas, the classic name “night on Bald Mountain” became prophetic for us - we were here already by dark. The Świętokrzyskie Mountains are a ridge 500-600 m high, not exactly mountainous: they are hills without a snow cap, quite earthen. From an era long before the appearance of the Slavs, pagan festivals were celebrated here. Probably, in some form, the Slavs adopted from the former inhabitants of these lands such an attitude towards Bald Mountain (and in general towards the Świętokrzyski ridge) - archaeologists discovered the remains of a fence-wall of pagan Slavic times, probably surrounding a sacred grove at the top. In modern times, reports have appeared about the worship here in the old days of the Gods Lada, Lele and Bode (the first two are controversial, the third did not exist at all; see A. Geishtor, Slavic mythology, p. 183), but all this, of course, is fiction, albeit having some folklore basis. Having wandered in the darkness around the monastery that had stood here since the baptismal era (Geishtor, ill. 20), where there were pagan shrines, we left for Krakow. As in the case of Mount Chernebog in Germany, my feelings about the place were something like this: a strong, holy place, but not particularly Slavic-pagan in this regard.

Since it was dark, I will not accompany this chapter with a few not quite good photos first day, and I’ll just attach - map of pagan landmarks in Poland(a lot is unconfirmed, but overall the map turned out to be very useful) and a promise that further photos will be in place.

Day 2. Krakow (and especially the Zbruch Idol)

Having woken up from an overnight stay in Krakow, we started the second day of the trip from the village of Lednica Górna, which today is almost merged with the south of Krakow. Alas, I did not find any traces of the character who glorified this village: Here are the women. It’s strange, they could have erected some kind of monument or something like that. During Easter time, the ancient ritual is still carried out today, but the rest of the time I couldn’t find anything reminiscent of it - only a cute village that barely preserved traces of the former collective farm nearby.

Otto of Bamberg was forced to visit Wolin several times in order to achieve success in the baptism of the Wolinians and consolidate it. According to all of Otto’s “Lives,” they worshiped the eponymous God of the city here, who for some reason was seen in Julius Caesar. Allegedly, Julius founded a city, which the lives call exclusively “Yulin,” and it was he who was revered by the Slavs here: “the city is Yulin. It got its name from Julius Caesar, who once built it; it was located on the banks of the Oder River not far from the sea” (Priflingenets, II.5). This, of course, is nonsense - the Pomeranians did not reverence any Caesar and in general they hardly knew much about him, however, apparently, the real Slavic name of the deity was very similar to “Julius”, which the authors of the “Lives” used for euhemeral purposes: they say, naive pagans , deified man. There is a corresponding one on the topic of the Pomeranian pantheon. Among the pagan shrines of “Yulina” an ancient spear is mentioned, so dilapidated that it could no longer be used in battle - it was stuck into a huge pillar standing in the city. In this regard, the Wolin God is sometimes called the "God-with-spear". After yesterday’s stories and personal meditations, without much surprise I deduced from my feelings that “Wolf-with-a-spear” is also Veles. In Szczecin he was revered in a three-headed form, and in Wolin - in the form of an attribute quite typical for this kind of deity. Like any great God, he had many names, and all of Western Pomerania (at least) saw him as a patron.

Although modern Wolin is a very small town, it is very picturesque and beautiful. First of all, we went to the embankment of the Dziwna River, which completes the path of the Odra waters to the Baltic - even the river here bore some kind of divine name. Having washed ourselves in the marvelous water, along the embankment dotted with fishermen and lined with various artifacts, we moved towards the Regional Museum. Among other monuments there is a painted modern "Viking picture stone". It is interesting precisely because the authentic, ancient picture stones that have come down to us have long since faded, and their new coloring can damage them from the point of view of historical value. At the same time, the modern stylization standing here gives a true idea of ​​exactly how these stones looked in ancient times.

The Wolin Regional Museum is small, but its collection is of great interest to a lover of pagan antiquities. The most famous exhibit is the “Volinsky Sventovit”: a small “pocket idol” made of wood with four faces on a rectangular base. It is securely hidden behind glass, which is good; The bad thing is that you can only view it from one side. It certainly gives the impression of an idol of some powerful Deity; perhaps this really is Sventovit. Nothing is known about the cult of the Ruyansk Sventovit among the Pomeranians, but Rügen is not so far away, and nothing is impossible about it. On the other hand, four-headedness could be a common motif (apparently meaning control over all directions of the world) of a number of great Deities of the Polabian region and beyond.
The museum's exhibition also includes various medieval and earlier antiquities, a model-reconstruction of a settlement from the Pomeranian era, and household and cult objects of the ancient Volynians. Among the important monuments are wooden pocket idols, vaguely reminiscent of their Novgorod counterparts; a staff with a pommel in the form of a head, again similar to those from Novgorod; Scandinavian runic inscription on a stick; decorations, including moonlights and amulets, etc. Although I leave it anyway most photo selections for the Volinsky Museum, it must be said that what is presented here does not exhaust the most interesting set of its exhibits.

“Volinsky Sventovit”, wooden four-faced idol (9 cm) from the 9th century.

Wooden kite from Sweden, scabbard frame, stick with Germanic runes, amber spindle whorl, etc.

Cult statues – “konik” and “pocket idols”

Household items – rivets, spears; in the upper right part of the image there are possibly cult figurines (face and hare)

Staff with a carved face

Tin and silver pendants from the 10th century, including moonlights

Fragment made from deer antler wind instrument with 12 faces of the 10th century.

Having then crossed Dziwna to Wolinsky Island, we found ourselves in an open-air reconstruction museum called “Center of the Slavs and Vikings.” There is something similar in the German Gross-Raden, later we will see a similar museum in Ovidz, but this one is certainly the best of its kind. This is a “settlement” fenced with a palisade, where there are several different houses, buildings, sanctuaries in the stylization of the end of the early Middle Ages (10th century give or take), and both Slavic (mostly) and Scandinavian antiquities are copied or reproduced. The level of detail and the number of different little things that are done or taken into account here is simply amazing. Apparently, craftsmen-reenactors, people who are very knowledgeable in their topic, come here for long periods of time during the warm season, who, having fun, make one trinket after another. I will not even try to express my admiration for this place, only advising any lover of Slavic and Scandinavian antiquities to visit it. In terms of its exhibition and reconstruction of antiquity, Volin surpasses everything I have seen in Germany and Poland, and is almost on an equal footing with Mister Veliky Novgorod.

Having spent a lot of time completely walking around the seemingly tiny Center, we finally left it, then moving on in search of the mysterious “Clawdone” or “Claudne”. This “very significant settlement” (Priflingen, II.19) was visited by Otto of Bamberg and it is not entirely clear what it is. Most researchers see it as the modern village of Kłodkowo, south along the Rega River from Trzebiatów; another version says that we are talking about the village of Tserkovets, 5–7 km west of Klodkowo. One way or another, in this place, described as “wooded and very beautiful” (Herbord, II.38), Otto founded a church, baptizing a large number of people. We visited both villages: both have fairly similar churches, one of which probably had a hand in the Bamberg missionary. These places did not make any impression on me, although 900 years ago the Polabian-Baltic version of Slavic paganism reigned here.

In view of large number The objects we visited that day, and the abundance of important photos, I will divide the report about it into two parts.

Day 5, part 2. Places of Otto of Bamberg in Poland: Trzyglow, Kolobrzeg, Bialogard; as well as Sadno, Trzebiatów, Triglav boulder from Tychowo

When Otto baptized Szczecin, people remaining faithful to paganism took the idol of God Triglav from the city to a village to the east of the city. Almost unanimously, the role of this village is assumed to be a settlement under the eloquent name Trzygłów (see Geishtor, pp. 137–138, although such a localization is unlikely to be correct), located in the same area (about 10 km south of Gryfice, where we were passing also dropped in, and where I washed myself in the Rega River). A certain widow hid the idol in the hollow of a large tree, and even with cunning, Otto’s companions were unable to steal or destroy the statue (Ebon, II.13). By the way, it is noteworthy that Otto’s assistant Hermann, who managed to spit at the idol, soon after ingloriously drowned in the Parsenta River (Priflingenets, II.20). In Trzhiglova Park I saw ancient oak trees that trace back to the descendants of the tree that sheltered the idol. Not so far from Trzhiglov (but far from being in this village itself!) by the road there is another, large wooden statue of Triglav - haven’t you lost count yet, which one? Unfortunately, I can’t imagine how in Russia, even in historical places, it would be possible to arrange them so boldly and en masse. Meanwhile, we stumbled upon the idol almost “by accident”, having already despaired of finding it in the village of Trzhiglov itself, where it is located in numerous materials both in Russian and in Polish language: in fact, it stands by the road in the village of Lubin east of Baszewice, 3 km from Trzyglov.

Sadlno is a tiny village 5–10 km west of Trzebiatów. Although local patriots are trying to attribute Otto’s visit to her, there is no reliable information about this. However, there is an ancient and mysterious church here. One of its secrets is “The Face from Sadno”. This is a small bas-relief on a stone embedded in the ground near the walls of the church next to the entrance. It is unclear who is depicted; For example, the opinion was put forward that this monument could be included among the “overthrown” idols of the Altenkirchen and Wolgast type (as well as the previously mentioned slab from Slupsk). But after examining “The Face from Sadno”, I retained my skepticism in this regard. Let's imagine a medieval sculptor of these places, depicting some kind of face. Let us imagine clergy obsessed with religion shouting about the bas-relief: “idol! idol!". And so, like a defeated idol, he is placed at the foot of the church entrance - undeservedly, but that’s how it happened. It's my opinion.

The name of the city of Trzebiatów on the Rega River probably comes from the common Slavic word “treba” (Polish trzeba). This term refers to the pagan lexicon and means “sacrifice”, “offering”, for example, in the ancient Russian (XI-XIII centuries) teaching against paganism “The Lay of Idols”: “the Slavic people also lay down and create what they require for the gods...”. There are many such names in Poland, and probably some of them refer to some pagan facts (and others to the meaning of “demand”). Archaeologists have established that in pagan times there was a sanctuary near Trzebiatów (“Wyszkowo_(Trzebiatów)”, see L.P. Slupecki, Slavonic pagan sanctuaries, p. 128), interesting for its astronomical landmarks. A. Geishtor writes: “traces of such a complex oval shape with traces of a fireplace and a pillar were found in Trzebiatovo in Pomerania (the very name of the place indicates the performance of sacrificial rites there). The astronomical orientation of the elements (stones, traces of pillars) of both this place of worship and other cult complexes was discovered (determination of sunrises in Trzebiatów on March 21, June 23 and September 23" (Geisztor, p. 207). We stopped there for a short time; I I saw that a plot of this land is for sale. Eh, it’s a pity there are no plots near St. Petersburg where plots with former pagan sanctuaries of the Slavs would be sold! The area is deserted and damp; next to the lowland of the Rega River. I wandered here a little, trying to find the ruins of an ancient medieval church, destroyed during the Second World War, but I’m not sure that I found them. But I managed to easily find a roadside ancient penitential cross. For tourists, apart from it, nothing interesting could be found here. Although north of Trzebiatów there is a village adjacent to this city called Białoboki, I did not intend to to look for the non-existent Belobogs there, and we moved further to the northeast.

A face from Sadno, with ancient and mysterious origins

Wyszkowo in Trzebiatów, site of an ancient Slavic temple; penitential cross of the 16th century

The city of Kołobrzeg (its name means “near the [Baltic] coast”) is interesting because already at the beginning of the 11th century. Thietmar of Merseburg briefly described its pagan cult: the local bishop Reinbern was active in the period 1000–1007 until he was expelled by the pagans: “He destroyed and burned the sanctuaries of idols; the sea, inhabited by demons, he threw there 4 stones anointed with holy oil and blessed with water, he cleansed it.” This is one of the few clear examples of the mention of water Slavic Deities. However, Otto of Bamberg, 120 years later, was forced to go there again to baptize the local Slavs. It was here, in Kolobrzeg, in the Parsent River, that Otto’s associate, Deacon Herman, who had recently spat on the idol of Triglav, foolishly drowned, plunging the missionary’s team into deep despondency and prompting them to quickly leave the unfriendly land. Are they strong? water gods this city! Herbord, writing about the baptism of Kołobrzeg (II.39), noted that by the arrival of Otto, almost all the inhabitants had left the city, and those who remained did not want to be baptized in the minority, although according to him Otto ultimately succeeded. It is a pity that none of the sources brought to us the names of the local Gods.
We reached the Baltic coast near the Kołobrzeg lighthouse. A strong wind was blowing, the sea waves were hissing, and hundreds of seagulls of all shades and sizes crowded around the water. The wife first managed to feed them a chocolate bar, and then, getting excited, bought a whole large loaf. The birds caught pieces of the bun on the fly, and took two or three slices directly from their hands, maneuvering in the wind. Here we captured some gorgeous sunset shots.

As a result, we arrived at Bialogard, the easternmost point visited by Otto during his missionary activities (Herbord, II.40), by dark. I wanted to wash myself in Parsenta, but the city seemed to be not on the river, but at some distance from it. As a result, in complete darkness, approaching fast waters Parcents, I washed my face in it - but along the way I didn’t come across anything interesting or well-lit enough to photograph it properly. However, both Otto’s Lives and the guidebooks did not offer anything valuable in this city.

Despite the long-falling darkness, we stopped at another place, again connected with Triglav. This is a huge boulder called Trygław, near which the cemetery of the village of Tychowo was laid out. So, laughing at ourselves, in complete darkness, we walked to the boulder through the village cemetery. However, throughout the cemetery, multi-colored lights of candles in colored transparent stands flickered - but still nothing was visible; The backlights on mobile phones for video shooting were almost useless. I climbed onto the boulder: it is indeed quite a massive stone, overgrown with mosses, although in the darkness it seemed larger to the touch than it appears in the photo. At its highest point there is a crucifix. Since we didn’t really have any photos of our own (“somewhere something is glowing”), I’ll attach a few pictures from the Internet for a general idea; Moreover, I have not come across any information about him in the Russian-speaking environment. However, in Poland this is a well-known thing, and in Tychowo in several places there are signs and plaques with reference information hanging on the boulder. I can’t say to what extent the boulder could be connected with God Triglav - rather, I think not. Its name is easier to explain as “three-headed”: at least one, the front ledge actually vaguely resembles a head. If you use your imagination, finding two more ledges and calling the stone three-headed will be quite easy. The stone undoubtedly attracts attention, regardless of any historical facts: it is too huge and not entirely typical for this area, therefore it is quite appropriately recorded as one of the surrounding “places of power”. From here we went to spend the night in Szczecinek.

Photo from the network, Triglav boulder at the Tychovo cemetery

Photo from the network, Triglav boulder at the Tychovo cemetery

Days 6 and 7. Szczecinek, Gdansk, Owidz, Mlawa

This is the last material about the trip itself, and the penultimate one in the section: in the next – summary – final chapter I will collect all vital information and advice to future pilgrims together.
We started our morning in Szczecinek with a visit to the local Regional Museum. Here is a stone idol known in Polish literature - the so-called “Lubovsky Belobog” of the 10th century. (Geishtor, ill. 7). This name is strange, taken out of nowhere, since there is no such Deity in reliable sources, and here, in the Szczecinek area, there are especially no hints of it - but alas, it has become established. Geishtor and Slupecki were misled by the era of its discovery, considering it post-war, but in fact the idol became known already in the 19th century. and was found slightly different from where it is usually noted. Those who want details can google an author with the last name Skrzypek on this topic - he wrote a good article in Polish about this “Belbuk”. I didn’t know what else there was in this museum, and after visiting it I was disappointed. Lyubov's idol stands at the entrance, under glass, and theoretically, with the right impudence, one could take a photo of it without buying tickets. Having bought them, we walked around several floors of a collection that was completely uninteresting and had virtually no historical value. Joking with my wife about a dilapidated door we saw in the exhibition (we have such “exhibits” in Petrogradka in every second entrance!), 20 minutes later we went down again to the idol, getting ready to leave - there was absolutely nothing to see there besides it. The idol impressed me as a shrine of “local significance”: apparently it is really a simple Slavic idol, depicting the Deity and having some power. Perhaps - at the level of assumption - in addition to a smiling face, it also meant a “princely hat” typical of Slavic idols, indicated, however, extremely schematically.

Lyubovsky idol (sometimes inappropriately called “Belbog”), around the 10th century; Regional Museum of Szczecinek

Lyubovsky idol (sometimes inappropriately called “Belbog”), around the 10th century; Regional Museum of Szczecinek

Then we finally left the former lands of the Pomeranians - on the whole they made a strong and pleasant impression on me. We arrived in seaside Gdansk. I want to emphasize that in the era of paganism, Poland did not have permanent access to the sea: to the east of the Pomeranians, their neighbors were the Balts - the Poles bordered on both of them from the south. Monuments of Baltic paganism in northeastern Poland are so numerous that, as far as I can imagine, there are almost more archaeological artifacts here than in Lithuania and Latvia combined. It’s a pity, but there wasn’t much time to study Baltic antiquities: Gdansk became the only point on the program, and only because it was on the way between other important “Slavic” points of the route. As we approached these regions, we were surprised by the bilingual geographical signatures: only later did I discover to my surprise that Kashubian (of the West Slavic group) is widely spoken here as a regional language (hundreds of thousands of speakers). In the era of paganism, these lands belonged to the Western Baltic tribe of Prussians.
The Archaeological Museum of Gdansk stands on a picturesque bank (several branches of the western mouth of the Vistula also pass through Baltic Gdansk). The city itself is large and beautiful, although we saw a lot of essentially German architecture during our trips around Germany. Right on the street between the water and the museum there are idols of the Balts, the so-called “Prussian women”: there are four of them and another revered stone next to them.

The museum itself is quite large, although thematically decorated in an odd way. After the large section of northern Africa comes the ancient eras and local region - there is no other here. Of the antiquities that are interesting to us, the first is the Boulder from Lezno. I was skeptical about what Geishtor wrote about him (ill. 9, pp. 218–219), but after examining and meditating, I decided that nothing was impossible if he somehow related to the Slavs. It’s not like an idol – a large round stone with drawings on three sides. The first one is apparently a horseman, very sketchy. The second is a person holding something in right hand. The third, the fuzziest and made in a slightly different technique, is another person, either holding a spear, or tied to something. I thought that these could be illustrations of some myth. We must agree with Geishtor that he dismissed the two-faced figure from Novy Vets from the list of Slavic antiquities: this is anything, but not Slavic antiquity. It is too pretentious, complex and in general in no way similar to other Slavic idols. Perhaps this is a fragment of some kind of church. Other thematic exhibits include amber figurines, moonlites, and Baltic stone shrines. However, in general, the museum did not make a big impression on me - especially after Szczecin and Wolin.

Boulder from Ležno from different sides: perhaps an illustration of some myth; Archaeological Museum of Gdańsk

Boulder from Ležno from different sides: perhaps an illustration of some myth; Archaeological Museum of Gdańsk

A two-headed statue from Novy Wiec, of a completely non-Slavic appearance; Archaeological Museum of Gdańsk

We headed south, trying to get to the Museum before closing. Slavic mythology, which is next to the Settlement in Owidz (Grodzisko Owidz) southeast of Starogard-Gdański. We both had time and did not have time: the museum was already closed, since the last entry of visitors was made an hour before closing, and an hour-long excursion was expected. There were no people. We pulled out a local employee, an aunt who spoke neither Russian nor English, and tearfully asked her to let us in privately, since we were rushing here on purpose, wanting to stay in the museum for at least 15 minutes. My aunt, not without hesitation, took the keys at her own risk and led us into the museum, even trying to tell us something in Polish. The idea of ​​the museum is quite original: it is dark, the installations are illuminated and even “move” a little when you put on 3D glasses. The first installation is dedicated to the “main myth”: near some mountain Perun fought with the Serpent - supposedly Veles. Well, that's okay. One of the following installations was dedicated to the “myth” of the love of Yarila and Marena. My aunt told a whole story, which I understood little of - but enough to understand that there is a lot of nonsense in this museum. Some part of the exhibition was devoted to holidays, the myth of the World Egg (where did they get it from the Slavs, I wonder, not from the “Ryaba Hen”? Do not confuse folklore and mythology) and folk painting. The museum is essentially tiny, and what can be told there besides nonsense for an hour is completely incomprehensible. But there was something for which I was eager to come here, and which deservedly pleased me.
This is a statue of God Sventovit, made exactly in accordance with the description of Saxo Grammar (“Acts of the Danes”, XIV.39.3), standing in the 12th century. in the holy city of Arkona of the Polabian Ruyan tribe, in the dim lighting of the museum, looking as if unreal. Although it was written at the entrance that filming was prohibited, my aunt did not forbid us to film and photograph - and almost everything that I photographed there was the “Arkonian” Sventovit. Undoubtedly, this is his best reconstruction of all that I have seen, both in the form of pictures and, especially, in the form of statues. Having thanked the aunt for visiting the museum, which also turned out to be free - they say, what should they charge us for, we didn’t listen to the excursion - we were sent by her to walk around the Settlement, which was a separate project.

As in the German Gross-Raden, the Ovidz Fortification was a reconstruction of a medieval settlement and fortress; however, after a similar “Center of Slavs and Vikings” in Wolin, it seemed to us completely superficial, undeveloped and uninteresting. It must be admitted that the bar set by Volin is incredibly high - he is head and shoulders above all his peers. The local settlement stands on the banks of the river along which swans swam, there is a wooden tower, a number of houses and buildings for various purposes, as well as several wooden sculptures, including reconstructions of idols. When it began to get dark, we went to spend the night at the last point of the route before Warsaw - the city of Mlawa.

Waking up on the morning of the seventh day of the trip in Mlawe, we went to the local museum: here I wanted to see the Maloczyn Idol (“Kamienne bóstwo pogańskie z Małocina” in Polish Wikipedia). The pleasant little museum has made it its symbol and stands as the focal point of one of the main halls. First of all, I was surprised by the size of the Malochinsky idol: for some reason, from several well-known pictures, I imagined a hefty boulder. In fact, this is the smallest free-standing stone idol I have ever seen: its head is the size of a human one. Examining him, I noticed a number of details: in addition to his face, his hair and ears were clearly visible, and the parting on his head was made with a clear hint of the frenulum of the phallus. What I previously took for a smile is apparently a mustache. Small pieces have been broken off from the head and bottom to the right (for the viewer). The mustache and beard were cut out and retained traces of black coloring; The idol was also painted on top, where the hair was. This is a powerful shrine; according to my subjective feeling, the idol depicts one of the supreme common Slavic Deities.

Unlike the Szczecinek Museum, the rest of the exhibition here is also very interesting: although there are almost no medieval antiquities, we wandered with curiosity through the biological section of the museum, where almost all the local fauna is exhibited in stuffed form. St O There were also exhibits in the section of geology, Paleolithic, and modern times. From Mlawa we left for Warsaw for the last day, dedicated to non-pagan tourism and shopping.

From October 21 to October 28, 2017, my wife and I visited Poland for the first time without passing through. Having rented a car in Warsaw, in one week we covered the same 2,500 km that we covered in two weeks in the summer in Germany. There is no doubt, however, that even this considerable distance could not accommodate everything that deserves a visit in this country, full of Slavic antiquities and pagan monuments. Here, in the west of the Slavic ancestral home, there are too many of them.
What to say? – First of all, I am delighted with Poland. Almost ten years ago, having visited Italy - with a paradise sea and ancient monuments at every step - I put it first on my tourist list, and to be honest, I was sure that no country with a colder climate could displace it. Poland did it - it’s the best country I’ve been to (which doesn’t stop me from loving my native Russia more - because it’s mine), and I’ve been to many places. Here, a healthy mentality amazingly coincides (believe me, the Poles, with all their focus on Europe, are not tolerant) and the standard of living and ecology. I won’t say that everything is perfect here – but everything is learned by comparison. I didn’t see here, as in Russia, abandoned drunken villages and “roads” made of holes and mud; I haven’t seen spontaneous garbage dumps, and bureaucrats with flashing lights, for the sake of which highways are blocked. I haven’t seen a dozen barbarians here in a week - although it’s hard for me to believe that such glorious places still exist. I haven't seen it here as in Western Europe, correct snobs who want to be fined for parking in a wasteland forgotten by the world and did not see the social and career fatalism to which every Englishman or Swede seems doomed. The Poles took the best from the east and west. It’s strange, however, that among the Polish women there are so few pretty or even fair... And by the way, here they really show accidents on Russian roads on TV like barbaric exoticism.
I was somewhat miscalculated with the timing, when it became dark - too early - and several evening points were not able to be properly seen and photographed (Lysa Gora of the Świętokrzyski ridge, Santok, Białogard, Tychowo). Unfortunately, due to the shortness of the trip, we were not able to visit all the museums - the day off fell in Poznan, and we missed the most interesting archaeological museum of this city. It remains a mystery to me whether, and where, if so, the idols from Powercze and the Mikorzyn stones, which I expected to see in the Krakow Archaeological Museum, are on display somewhere. It was quite unexpected for me that a number of the large bookstores we visited did not have a single worthwhile book about Slavic paganism, although we saw some specialized archeology on the shelves of museums. Otherwise, everything turned out great. In general, the road was successful, the weather was practically undisturbing, and there were no special adventures. In some places I found more than I was looking for - for example, I discovered an ancient Plate from Slupsk in Szczecin. Even if the list of points to visit, far from being completely complete, was completed in its entirety. We spent every night in hotels, each time in a new place, assessing almost all regions of this rather large country by European standards - again I can recommend the booking.com service for this.

What else can you advise a pagan pilgrim heading to Poland? “He started a worthwhile business, I’ll say.” Renting a car and driving around Poland is easy, I advise you not to be afraid of it. I note that in Poland very few people speak English: we met approximately the same number of people who at some level spoke Russian. A thousand years ago, our languages ​​were still almost the same - and this also contributes to the understanding of people and culture.
Speaking of places, of course, not everything we visited will be interesting to everyone. The places of Otto of Bamberg, for example, are my personal feature, since I am currently working on a project on the “Lives” of this missionary. And what is worth visiting - without fanaticism for specific images?
– First of all, I was delighted by the region of Szczecin and Wolin. These two cities in the very west of the country and some of their surroundings truly immerse you in a pagan atmosphere with their countless idols right on the streets, magnificent museums and historical monuments. In addition, it is precisely about the paganism (however, the Semi-Baltic, and not the Polish version) of these places in Poland that is most reliably known (the “Lives” of Otto of Bamberg is from the 12th century; chroniclers of the 11th–13th centuries report something about Wolin). Adam of Bremen or Saxo Grammar). These are beautiful regions in themselves - Szczecin is a large metropolis, and Wolin is a village with all the corresponding features. And all around are marvelous rivers and bays; It's a stone's throw to the Baltic.
– Krakow is also very good. A lover of Slavic antiquities may be drawn there only by the Zbruch Idol, an adornment of the local museum, but there is something to see there besides that. This is a very beautiful city, full of tourists and attractions, standing on the Vistula River, sacred to the Slavs. Don't miss the Kraka Mound and Wawel Castle - and if you wish, there is plenty to see in the area around the city.
– Mount Slenzha, although full of pre-Slavic monuments, in all likelihood, was also revered by the pagan Slavs. This is an amazing wild place, a wilderness covered with forests and boulders. Gorgeous views of nature and a special connection with it are guaranteed here. Very close by is the noble city of Wroclaw, and even closer are many of the key places in Sapkowski’s Reinewan Saga.
– In general, I liked Kolobrzeg, and many points between it and the above-mentioned Szczecin and Wolin - but this region, where Polob-Baltic and Polish antiquities intersected, is too vast to point out anything specific here. By the way, I believe that there is a short period of the year when the local Baltic Sea becomes quite swimmable. To a lesser extent I was pleased with Gniezno and Poznan, the outskirts of Gdansk; and I didn’t like Warsaw at all (the only one), full of skyscrapers (however, the Stalinist high-rise was still far from being lost against their background) and almost without art O shopping stores.

Well, we can close this section.

A private house in the village of Boruwiec, near the city of Poznan, Poland, was built in 2016 according to the design of the architectural studio mode:lina. The house is built from simple and affordable materials such as concrete, wood, sheet metal and brick. Thanks to its original form, it was called “The Fence House”. The two-story building with an area of ​​290 square meters consists of two identical blocks with a sloping roof and an asymmetrical cube, which houses a garage.

On the street side, the house has a closed facade without windows, which ensures privacy and creates a feeling of privacy and security. Finished with metal siding gray, the facade resembles a fence. But from the outside courtyard The façade has a large glass area, making the house look stylish and welcoming. Large panoramic windows and sliding glass doors offer stunning views of the courtyard garden and the nearby forest. The owners of the mansion are a family with two young children.

The desire of the home owners to have spaces isolated from each other dictated this building design. In addition, the young family wished to have large free spaces, as they plan to have several more children in the future. One block of the building is occupied by parents’ apartments, the other by children’s rooms. On the ground floor there is a common area for everyone - a social one. There is a living room, dining room and kitchen opening onto the garden. The interior, made in a modern style, impresses with many original design solutions.

A large home library located on the mezzanine above the living room looks gorgeous. The bookshelves are made of solid oak logs, giving this area a special coziness and charm. The highlight of the interior is the window in the corridor, made in the form of a picture, from where you can see a unique red car standing in the garage - the pride of the owners of the house. The interior of the children's room is interestingly presented. The two beds are designed as separate houses with windows and skylights, which allow children to feel their own space and feel more comfortable.

A striking touch in the interior design are the retro doors, reminiscent of barn doors, which, in combination with modern furniture make the space brutal and exclusive. The staircase connecting the floors of the house, made of concrete and glass, looks gorgeous. A lot was used in the interior natural materials, the dominant of which is wood. The presence of raw concrete, rough wood and exposed brick in the interior design brings an industrial hint to the interior. In the courtyard of the house there are several cozy terraces and a large swimming pool.

There are probably few city dwellers who would not dream of taking a break from the noisy bustle of the metropolis somewhere in nature, outside the city, in a village or small village. The dream of most city dwellers today is country real estate - a mansion, cottage or small house.

Country house in Polish style

Those who managed to fulfill their dream and start building a country house or cottage have to solve many issues, both organizational and production, directly related to the construction process. One of these issues, both at the initial stage of construction and during interior design rooms is a matter of design and architectural style. Of course, it is desirable that interior decoration home and him appearance would correspond to each other and harmonize with each other.


Architectural styles in construction, as well as styles interior design There are many premises today. Recently, the high-tech or modern style is considered very fashionable; many owners prefer to build houses and decorate the interior in this design. However, houses in a variety of rustic styles are now beginning to appear more and more often, and many people decorate the interiors of their apartments in such styles. After all modern style High-tech is fashionable, but still the abundance of glass, metal, plastic, strict forms, shades and the minimalism characteristic of it do not create the proper coziness, an atmosphere of warmth, comfort, and some kind of homeliness, which is sometimes so lacking a person immersed in the bustle and problems of the city.







Therefore, now people are starting to return to their roots again, trying to be closer to the earth, to nature, and are building houses using mainly natural materials in their design, decoration and interior. For example, a good option might be country house IR in Polish style. This style is, first of all, characterized by the use of exclusively natural materials - stone, wood, textiles, leather. These materials should be the basis of all home decoration. Stone, as a rule, is used to decorate fireplaces; walls, floors and ceilings can be made of wood; forged elements are present in the interior - shelves, chair backs, fireplace grates, etc. To decorate the floor, not only wood is used, but also ceramic tiles with beautiful folk patterns. Tiles can also serve as finishing material for the fireplace.











Speaking about colors and shades, it should be noted that the Polish style is characterized by brighter colors than, say, the Provence style. These colors must be present in textiles used for interior decoration. It is preferable to use colorful curtains, tablecloths, sofa cushions, and floor carpets with some kind of ornament. Furniture also needs to be made of wood and not too massive. Do-it-yourself decorative elements are very welcome. Knitted curtains, tablecloths, homemade rag dolls, painted clay pots and vases.






As for the kitchen, this is where your imagination can unfold in terms of decor and various ideas. It is preferable to use built-in household appliances, so they will not be conspicuous and disrupt the overall harmony of the interior. A Polish-style kitchen is characterized by the use of ceramic, copper or wooden kitchen utensils. In addition to the usual kitchen furniture Polish style involves the presence of numerous shelves hung on the walls. By the way, you can make such shelves not only in the kitchen, but in the living room and hallway. In addition, it is customary to decorate the walls with small paintings and photographs in classic frames.






A rustic house in the Polish style also includes an abundance of greenery both indoors and outdoors. Place flowerpots with flowers on the window sills from the street; tubs with evergreen plants can be placed at the entrance doors.

If you decide to decorate your country house in Polish style, do not forget about forged elements. Would look great in the living room forged chandelier, flower stands and some furniture elements can be forged. Cushioned furniture should be upholstered with textiles or leather. Coziness and comfort in the living room will be added by a skin spread in front of the fireplace, on which it is so pleasant to lie down while whiling away a winter evening.






Country house in Polish style: photo 1

Country house in Polish style: photo 2

Country house in Polish style: photo 3

There are many beautiful places in the world that have acquired beauty and special charm thanks to the imagination, creativity and efforts of their inhabitants. Suffice it to recall the Italian island of Burano with its bright colorful houses, the beautiful city of Mittenwald in Bavaria and its fabulous houses, painted by artists, like illustrations for books, or the island of Lanzarote with its beautiful villages and amazing houses.

Residents Polish village Zalipie(Zalipie), located in the south of Poland, thanks to their creativity, they have made a small village one of the most charming and colorful places in the country. They love to decorate their homes with colorful floral designs. But not only the facades of houses, the objects of their creativity also included walls and ceilings inside the house, household items, sheds, fences, wells, buckets and even barrels.

Now this one is very beautiful village became the center of ethnographic folk art in its region and one of the real sights of Poland. Thanks to the villagers' and artists' passion for creativity and self-expression, the Painted House Competition (Malowana Chata) is held here every year.

The tradition of painting houses in Zalipie is over 100 years old. And it all started with the usual whitewashing of walls smoked with soot. During the whitewashing, the imagination and imagination of the housewives helped them to see in the reliefs of the walls the outlines of not only flowers and leaves, but also entire bouquets. So, using available materials - brown clay, soot from chimneys, lime and birch sticks instead of brushes, village women began to paint flowers on the walls of their houses.

Now there are more than 20 painted houses in the village. The most famous and talented artist of Zalipie was Felicja Curylowa (1904-1974). Her original and very beautiful house after her death it became a museum and was transferred to the Regional Museum of Tarnów. The interior created by a talented housewife has been preserved here, and you can admire the true beauty created by a village woman.