Disappearance of the Limestone Architectural Heritage in Central Poland - Trends and Challenges

Abstract

Koło Basin is a geographical region located in central Poland, where in the period from the mid-XIX century until the late of 1960s the traditional rural construction had been developing architectural features of a unique character. The structures in that area were not being constructed using wood, which was the most common construction material used throughout the Polish lowlands, but limestone, mined at small local quarries. Their emergence is a result of a specific terrain of the discussed area, where in the vicinity of villages Rożniatów and Czepów, as well as the little town of Poddębice, a layer of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks reaches to the surface. An estimated number of 3,000 structures in the region was erected using this material. These include houses, homesteads, barns, churches, manors, mills and other rural buildings. Research conducted by the authors between 2011-2017 revealed that a little over 2,300 of these structures still exist. In the recent times, the speed of removal of these buildings, which are such a characteristic feature of the region’s cultural landscape, rapidly increased. There are at least a few causes of this phenomenon. The depopulation of the rural areas results in abandoning of the farms, which thereafter soon become derelict and devastated. Most of the residential structures made of limestone in the past centuries does not meet the current utility standards. Therefore, they are frequently taken apart, and being replaced by new structures made out of modern construction materials and integrating universal design projects. More frequently as well, the owners of such structures are upgrading and expanding the existing construction, having the existing limestone elements covered with layers of thermo-isolation and plaster. These changes involve also farm utility structures for agricultural production. Since Poland’s accession to the European Union, the rural areas of the country begun a definite expansion, but also a change in its profile and scale. As one of the side-effects of modernization of farmsteads, which were to increase their profitability and competitiveness, old structures are being abandoned and demolished. The civilization growth in Koło Basin and its surroundings results in the improving of its populations’ living and working conditions is definitely a positive development. It’d be beneficial however that it proceeds in a more harmonious and balanced manner, preserving the unique cultural heritage of the region. In authors’ opinion the actions which had been taken by the local authorities so far towards the protection and the preservation of these assets of cultural heritage for generations to come do not guarantee success of the undertaking. There is a necessity for forming and a subsequent firm execution a complex plan for protection of the limestone structures in the region. Authors point to the fact that the rural limestone architecture existing in Koło Basin is unique in the scale in this part of Europe.