Salwator Cemetery
Kraków Cemeteries
Salwator Cemetery (Zwierzyniec district), also called the Zwierzyniec cemetery, was consecrated in 1865. It began as a small parish cemetery for Zwierzyniec, Półwsie and nearby villages. A Neo-Gothic chapel of St Joseph with catacombs for nuns was built in 1888 at the initiative of the abbess of the Norbertine Sisters. A mass grave holds residents of Zwierzyniec and Wola Justowska murdered by the Germans on 28 July 1943. In 1979 the ashes of Rafał Józef, the youngest son of Adam Mickiewicz, were brought here from Paris. It lies at the foot of St Bronisława Hill, on the way to Kościuszko Mound, with a view over the city.
History
Salwator Cemetery, also known as Zwierzyniec Cemetery, was consecrated in 1865. At first it was a small parish cemetery used by the residents of Zwierzyniec, Półwsie and several neighbouring villages: Przegorzały, Chełm, Bielany and Olszanica. It was fenced in 1883, and in 1888, through the efforts of the Norbertine abbess Eufemia Żarska, a neo-Gothic chapel of St Joseph with catacombs for the nuns was built here to a design by Sebastian Jaworzyński. It was consecrated in 1889 by Cardinal Albin Dunajewski. The cemetery was extended in 1902 and 1999; it belongs to the parish of the Most Holy Saviour, and more than 25,000 people rest here. A mass grave holds residents of Zwierzyniec and Wola Justowska murdered by the Germans during the pacification of 28 July 1943. In 1979 the ashes of Rafał Józef, the youngest son of Adam Mickiewicz, who died in 1938, were brought here from Paris. In 2001 a plaque honouring the poet Jerzy Harasymowicz was placed by the main gate.
Did you know?
The cemetery lies at the foot of St Bronisława's Hill, on the road from Salwator to the Kościuszko Mound. It offers a panorama of the city, and in good weather you can also see the Beskid ranges and the peaks of the Tatras.