Protection of Roadside Shrines and Crosses in Poland Against The Background of Historical Events and in Light of Established Legal Acts

Abstract

Roadside crosses and shrines are a characteristic element of the Polish landscape. Small sacred objects are intertwined with history and the cultural context of Polish countryside and cities, arising from the need of faith, and have manifested piety for generations. Many crosses and shrines were erected as mementos of important national events, uprisings, war skirmishes, independence spurts that took place in the 19th and in the first half of the 20th centuries, commemorating national anniversaries, for instance 1918, anniversaries of Christianization of Poland, jubilees of historic events. They were also built upon old mass graves of victims of bygone epidemics. In the context of historic events, objects of small sacral architecture were met with harassment and repressions. Therefore, after regaining independence legal initiatives were undertaken by the state and the Church to save these objects. Unfortunately, not always did this type of object receive sufficient legal protection or proper appraisal. In documents they are present in the background. That is why ethnographic studies are often the only way to save their memory, and preserve the image of old crosses, statues, and shrines.