Powązki Cemetery

"Powązki" redirects here. For other uses, see Powązki (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Powązki Military Cemetery.

Powązki Cemetery
Details
Saint Honorata gate
Established	November 4, 1790^[1]
Location	Warsaw
Country	Poland
Type	Public
Size	106.25 acres (0.43 km²)^[1]
Number of graves	over 1 million
Website	Unofficial website
Find a Grave	Powazki Cemetery

Powązki Cemetery (Polish pronunciation: [pɔˈvɔ̃skʲi]; Polish: Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as the Stare Powązki (English: Old Powązki) is a historic cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city, and one of the oldest. Found here are the graves of many illustrious individuals from Polish history, including those interred along the "Avenue of Notables" (Aleja Zasłużonych) established in 1925.

The cemetery is often confused with the newer Powązki Military Cemetery, which is located to the north-west of the Powązki Cemetery.

Details

The Powązki Cemetery was established on 4 November 1790, it was consecrated on 20 May 1792 and initially covered the area of only about 2.5 ha. In the same year the Saint Karol Boromeusz Church, designed by Dominik Merlini, was built at the cemetery. The catacombs were also soon built.

Soon afterwards, several other cemeteries were founded in the area: Jewish, Calvinist, Lutheran, Caucasian and Tatar. The Orthodox cemetery is located not far from the Powązki necropolis.

Like many of the old European cemeteries, Powązki's tombstones were created by some of the most renowned sculptors of the age, Polish and foreign. Some of the monuments are excellent examples of various styles in art and architecture.

On All Saints Day (November 1) and Zaduszki (November 2) in Warsaw, vigils are held not only in the Roman Catholic cemeteries, but in the Protestant, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox cemeteries as well. At Powązki Cemetery, all the graves are decorated with candles.

Selected notable burials

A few of the notables buried here are:

Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (1834–1861), composer
Izabela Barcińska née Chopin (1811–1881), youngest sister of Fryderyk Chopin
Wojciech Bogusławski (1757–1829), writer, actor, director
Emilka Chopin (1812–1827), sister of Fryderyk Chopin
Ludwika Jędrzejewiczowa née Chopin (1807–1855), oldest sister of Fryderyk Chopin
Mikołaj Chopin (1771–1844), father of Fryderyk Chopin
Justyna Chopin (d.1861), mother of Fryderyk Chopin
Kazimierz Ołdakowski (1879-1940), prewar director of Fabryka Broni
Gerard Antoni Ciołek (1909–1966), architect and historian of gardens
Ignacy Dobrzyński (1807–1867), composer
Jerzy Duszyński (1917–1978), actor
Józef Elsner (1769–1854), composer and conductor. Piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin.
Władysław Filipkowski (1892–1950), military commander
Pola Gojawiczyńska (1896–1963), writer
Józef Gosławski, (1908–1963), sculptor and medallic artist
Leopold Janikowski (1855–1942), meteorologist, explorer and ethnographer
Stanisław Janikowski (1891–1965), Polish diplomat
Stefan Jaracz (1883–1945), actor
Jan Kiepura (1902–1966), singer and actor
Krzysztof Kieślowski (1941–1996), film director
Jan Kiliński (1760–1819), freedom fighter
Stefan Kisielewski (1911–1991), art critic and writer
Krzysztof Komeda (1931–1969), jazz composer
Ryszard Kukliński (1930 – 2004), a Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO
Henryk Kuna (1885–1945), sculptor
Tadeusz Łomnicki (1927–1992), actor
Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994), composer
Stanisław Masłowski (1853–1926), painter-artist
Witold Małcużyński (1914–1977), classical pianist
Stefan Mazurkiewicz (1888–1945), co-founder of the Warsaw school of mathematics
Jerzy Mierzejewski (1917–2012), artist and pedagogue
Stanisław Moniuszko (1819–1872), composer
Ola Obarska (1910–1992), singer and actress
Antoni Osuchowski (1849–1928), philanthropist and national activist
Lech Pijanowski (1928–1974), film-maker and game designer
Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), journalist and novelist
Kazimierz Pużak (1883–1950), died in the Communist prison, secretly buried in Powązki
Władysław Reymont (1867–1925), Nobel Prize-winning novelist
Irena Sendlerowa (1910–2008), head of Children's Section of the Żegota
Wacław Sierpiński (1882–1969), mathematician
Andrzej Sołtan (1897–1959), physicist
Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski (1893–1964), general
Jerzy Waldorff (1910–1999), art critic and one of the benefactors of the Cemetery
Melchior Wańkowicz (1892–1974), writer
Henryk Wieniawski (1835–1870), composer
Kazimierz Wierzyński (1894–1969), poet and writer
Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932), aircraft designer and aviator
Stanisław Wojciechowski (1869–1953), president of Poland
Aleksander Zelwerowicz (1877–1955), actor and director, patron of the Warsaw Drama Academy
Franciszek Żwirko (1895–1932), aviator
Wojciech Żywny (1756–1842), first piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin, composer.

Gallery

Avenue of Notables
Saint Karol Boromeusz Church
Old Powązki
Edward Rydz-Śmigły grave
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
Old Powązki
Old Powązki

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Powązki Cemetery.

1 2 "Historia Cmentarza Powązkowskiego" (in Polish). Retrieved 10 August 2010.

Coordinates: 52°15′07″N 20°58′22″E / 52.25194°N 20.97278°E / 52.25194; 20.97278

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