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Warsaw shrines are an important part of Varsovians’ history and of Warsaw landscape. They are usually set in courtyards of shabby tenements, so most tourists and the inhabitants of Warsaw do not see them at all. The great majority of the shrines were founded during the Nazi occupation of Poland, from which a few hundreds survived till our times.

History

Like holy statues and roadside crosses, shrines have been known in Warsaw since the Middle Ages. However the ones, which survived till our times mostly, were built under German occupation and also during the period between the late nineteenth century and the World War II. In 1943 and 1944 when the truth about Katyn massacre came out, the Warsaw Ghetto was destroyed and street roundups, arrests, executions of hostages, deportations to German Nazi concentration and extermination camps were on the agenda in Warsaw, the terrified citizens set up hundreds of shrines in tenements courtyards, gateways and stairwells. After curfew, behind a closed gate friends, families and neighbors were gathering round a shrine, singing religious and patriotic songs and praying collectively. The evenings spent together were an act of patriotic manifestation and also a form of therapy for Varsovians. The phenomenon of shrines, which spread across Warsaw in a great amount and in an amazingly short time, is unprecedential. The fact that the German occupiers didn’t forbid setting up the shrines seems to be surprising. Most probably, they interpreted the Varsovians’ religious fervor as a psychological surrender and a decision not to resist any longer .

Types and materials

All of the shrines are adorned with flowers or multi-colored tissue paper and lit by candles or small lamps. They are mostly dedicated to Virgin Mary or Christ. However, it is impossible to find two identical sanctuaries. The great variety of Warsaw shrines' forms is caused by spontaneity in setting them up and by social inequality between the founders. Though every shrine is unique, certain types can be distinguished:

• reliefs,
• religious paintings or pictures hanging in gateways, stairwells and on courtyard walls,
• statues set in niches usually made of faience or inexpensive porcelain,
• free-standing sculptures placed on wooden or brick pedestals in the courtyards,
• wooden, frequently glazed cases, hanging on courtyard walls or attached to metal or wooden poles,
• large shrines, made of wood or brick, usually plastered, located in the middle of courtyards .

Setting up

A shrine was usually built on the initiative of a caretaker of a tenement. He was responsible for collecting money from the local tenants and afterwards for ordering a shrine. It took from two to three days to set it up and to decorate it. The final form of a shrine depended on the invention of the founders and on the funds, which most frequently were modest. When a shrine was ready all the tenants would gather round it at about 4 p.m. and the invited priest would consecrate it. From then on elderly residents would take over the responsibility for preserving the sanctuary.

Addresses

List of selected existing shrines in Warsaw:

Mokotów

• Al. Niepodległości 159
• Bekasów 11
• Bukowińska 28
• Fałata 2-4
• Fałata 6
• Grottgera 18
• Kwiatowa 24
• Narbutta 11
• Narbutta 42
• Narbutta 52
• Nowoursynowska 178
• Puławska 5

Ochota

• Asnyka 6
• Filtrowa 62
• Filtrowa 68
• Filtrowa 81
• Górnickiego 3
• Joteyki 4
• Kaliska 5
• Słupecka 4
• Słupecka 8 (in the stairwell)
• Zimorowicza 4

Praga

• Bródnowska 14
• Bródnowska 16
• Bródnowska 20
• Brzeska 9
• Brzeska 11
• Brzeska 11
• Brzeska 13
• Brzeska 15/17
• Brzeska 17a
• Brzeska 21
• Grochowska 80/82
• Czynszowa 4
• Jagiellońska 9
• Jagiellońska 18
• Kępna 4
• Kępna 8
• Kobielska 59
• Konopacka 21
• Kowelska 6
• Murmańska 12
• Mała 13a
• Okrzei 18
• Stalowa 9
• Stalowa 11
• Stalowa 34
• Strzelecka 2 (in the stairwell)
• Strzelecka 31
• Strzelecka 42
• Szwedzka 35a
• Środkowa 3a
• Środkowa 12
• Środkowa 25
• Tarchomińska 7
• Targowa 12
• Targowa 14
• Targowa 32
• Targowa 44
• Wileńska 3
• Wileńska 5
• Wileńska 31
• Wileńska 43
• Wileńska 47
• Wileńska 59
• Wileńska 69
• Zaokopowa 3
• Ząbkowska 5
• Ząbkowska 6
• Ząbkowska 11
• Ząbkowska 12
• Ząbkowska 16
• Ząbkowska 36
• Ząbkowska 54

Śródmieście

• Al. 3 Maja 14
• Al. Jerozolimskie 101
• Bracka 23
• Bracka 18
• Ciepła 3
• Dobra 4
• Emilii Plater 8
• Emilii Plater 12
• Emilii Plater 13
• Emilii Plater 14
• Emilii Plater 17
• Gałczyńskiego 8
• Hoża 27
• Hoża 57
• Hoża 59
• Jasna 17
• Koszykowa 20
• Koszykowa 31
• Koszykowa 49a
• Koszykowa 59
• Koszykowa 67
• Krucza 7
• Krucza 13
• Marszałkowska 43
• Marszałkowska 62
• Marszałkowska 81
• Noakowskiego 10
• Noakowskiego 12
• Noakowskiego 16
• Nowogrodzka 10
• Piękna 22
• Piękna 54
• Poznańska 3
• Poznańska 5
• Poznańska 12
• Sienkiewicza 4
• Sienna 45
• Szpitalna 6
• Widok 15
• Widok 18
• Widok 19
• Widok 22
• Wilcza 25
• Wspólna 54a
• Wilcza 32
• Zajęcza 10

Wola

• Al. Solidarności 145
• Chmielna 122
• Chmielna 130
• Grzybowska 71
• Grzybowska 90
• Karolkowa 30
• Miedziana 3
• Miedziana 8
• Miedziana 16
• Miedziana 18
• Ogrodowa 10/26
• Ogrodowa 50
• Ogrodowa 67
• Pereca 16
• Waliców 12
• Złota 63
• Żelazna 31
• Żelazna 64

Żoliborz

• Al. Wojska Polskiego 31
• Dygasińskiego 31
• Dziennikarska 8
• Krasińskiego 20
• Mickiewicza 27
• Popiełuszki 14

References:

Last updated: 2012-01-20