Wayside Shrines and Crosses as the Spatial and Memorial Signs in the Cultural Landscape of Polish Rural Areas

Abstract

This article concerns the issues of investigating the role of the wayside crosses and shrines in cultural landscape of Polish rural areas as well as its functioning as the spatial and memorial signs in the awareness of local communities. The article is based on the ethnographical field research and publications. In the investigation, there was used authorial method in the anthropology field, cognitive mapping method -mental maps, which enables the researchers to describe and knowledge many cultural landscape dimensions - sacral, historical, legendary- mythological, social and to identify significant elements that create the rural space. The thesis was that the wayside crosses and shrines are multi code and complex macro-signs that serve multipurpose function in the lives of the countryside residents. The aim of this paper is to show the possibilities of reading the encoded cultural meanings of these small sacral architecture forms created as a result of direct or earlier life experiences of the village inhabitants. The article points out the need of documentation to protect, preserve and maintain these archetypical elements that influence the clarity of cultural landscape and the identity of the local communities.