Old Polish New Year's Eve and Carnival

In the old times in Poland, the period from New Year’s Eve until the end of the Carnival season was filled with carefree and imaginative fun based on folk beliefs, customs, and rituals. People played, sang, danced, and ate with abandon in the manors, houses, and taverns. A sense of rejoicing was everywhere. In addition,…



Christmas in Old Polish Times

Christmas ended the period of fasting, silence, and reflection, and began the time of joy that followed the birth of Christ. The atmosphere of Christmas, its traditions and customs, family meetings, and common carol-singing filled almost every old Polish manor house. Many Christian homes also celebrated All Souls’ Day and observed New Year’s ceremonies, which…


Who Was the Famous Stańczyk from Jan Matejko’s Painting?

At the court of Queen Bona Sforza, the party is in full swing. The royal jester is the only one to see the approaching disaster… by Michał Haake   Jesters bring pleasure, jokes, fun and laughter to others, ‘as if this is what the grace of God sent them here for, to cheer up the…


Maurycy Mochnacki: an entangled revolutionary

Passionate, volatile, demagogic and captivating: Maurycy Mochnacki both co-creates and embodies the model Polish Romantic hero. It seems as if he descended from the pages of the poems and novels that he praised and promoted. And yet he lived, burned and suffered a defeat in the most real of stories. by Wojciech Stanisławski   He…


Władysław Kozakiewicz. The man who silenced the Russians

On July 30, 1980, during the Olympic Games in Moscow, Władysław Kozakiewicz won the pole vault competition. Apart from setting the world record (5.78 m), which to this day sets him among the leaders of this competition, the athlete is also remembered for an unsportsmanlike gesture he gave the hostile audience – the bras d’honneur….


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