Autoportret 12. Przestrzenie sakralne

-- the city of god, about the christian temple / jakub puchalski
Whether a believer or an atheist, a member of a congregation who wishes to hear mass or a tourist with a camera - on entering the church we all lower our voices, slow down, try not to disturb. Whence comes the force of this building? What makes us feel that, once we pass through the porch, we enter a different world? Let us have a closer look at the Christian temple.

-- in the grip of determinants, the church architecture in bohemia / vladimir czumalo
The history of the church architecture in Bohemia has been inextricably intertwined with the political history and history of the nation. The appearance of churches reflected both the possibilities that were allowed by the authorities and the attitudes of the society itself. Perhaps the saddest period were the five decades of communism when development of this kind of architecture was brought to a complete standstill. Today Bohemia is looking forward to "a new church", and a look back will allow us to understand the reasons behind the present situation.

-- thebes plunged in the taiga, valaam monastery at lake ladoga / darja agapova
On the largest lake of Europe, Lake Ladoga, 230 kilometers away from St Petersburg lies a tiny archipelago of 40 islands, seat of the ancient Orthodox Valaam Monastery. It is an extraordinary place for many reasons: as a monastery-state, as a global scale wonder of nature, a fairy tale site created by man in the gloom of the North. Darja Agapova describes the beauty of Valaam and how ancient traditions of Russian monks are upheld here.

-- dao - the way between heaven and earth, a quest for harmony in china / alina drapella-hermansdorfer
In many religions, believers meet God in temples - places especially designed for his purpose. In Chinese Taoism, however, the sacred space is unlimited, and da, or the way to a deeper understanding of reality, can be found in the contact with nature. The appearance and symbolism of Buddhist and Taoist temples reflects nature and provides space for reflection on the surrounding reality.

-- a hill which became a temple, the story of the giant of wilmington / krystian pisowicz
Wanderers travelling through southern England may chance upon a mysterious sign of the presence of our ancestors who left it here thousands of years ago. When positioned at the foot of one of the hills in the area of Wilmington, they can observe on its slope a nearly seventy-metre-high outline of a man holding two sticks in his hands. Who does this spectacular sculpture depict? A warrior? God? Is it possible that there was once a temple on this site? Krystian Pisowicz comes face to face with the mysteries of the giant of Wilmington.

-- civilisation of contrast, a look at various necropolis of macedonia / lech miodynski
In this part of Europe we are used to having a strictly delineated and ordered necropolis: a cemetery fulfils both religious and administrative requirements. However, in the Balkans burying the deceased and memory of them takes other forms. In the place where religions and cultures converge, also within a cemetery, symbolism is mixed, and the world of the dead remains closely connected with that of the living.

-- the sacred spaces of india, a short introduction / premystaw piekarski
On the whole, we view the sacred space literally, as particular buildings or sites. When discussing India, we must adopt a broader perspective at it. Sacred places, landscapes marked with the sacred, the sound of music and the scent of incense reflect the division of the society into castes which determine the distance of a given group of people from the sacred sphere. Welcome to a meeting with the complicated world of Indian religiousness.

-- my place, conservator of beauty from bogusza / krystyna pawtowska
Following the Malopolska Wooden Architecture Route, a traveller cannot miss the village of Bogusza and its two churches. Only a few years ago both of them were on the verge of ruin but now, owing to the new vicar, Father Mieczyslaw Czekai, they have been restored to their former beauty. The article features a great passion which helped save not only church walls but also a number of monuments of regional sacred art.

-- forum for people seeking inspiration, slot art festival in lubiaz / michat wojciechowski
Few tourists ever come to the post-Cistercian monastery in Lubiaz, situated between the town of Legnica and the city of Wroclaw. It is only for several days in July that the place is virtually besieged - all this due to the SLOT art festival. The fact that its programme includes numerous concerts, performances, work-shops, Film Discussion Clubs, seminars does not fully justify the uniqueness of this event. Michat Woicie-chowski reveals all its secrets.

-- stations beyond space, the way of the cross designed by jerzy nowosielski / paulina jurkowska
"Contemporary church interiors often lack coherence and a clear conception of interior design", reads the first line of the article. However, the sacred space may be more than just the interior of a building. This is exemplified by the church of the Reformati Order in the area of Azory in Kraków. Designed by Jerzy Nowosielski, its interior decoration which draws on the Way of the Cross is both traditional in conception and modern in form. Owing to this, the artist achieved a harmonious combination of architecture, interior design and the exterior context provided by the local housing estate.

-- the sacred regained? the architectural design of a church in ostrod / agnieszka szeffel
Designing a sacred building poses perhaps the most challenging task for a contemporary architect - albeit it may be the one most wanted. Michat Rybak accepted a commission to design a parish church in Ostró-da. In his design, he attempted to combine the non-material aura of the sacred with the financial means of the local residents and the stylistics of the local architecture. How did he manage to regain clarity and depth of sacred interiors lost by now? Agnieszka Szeffel writes about the architect's design.