Pilgrimage Crosses from Explorations of the Parish Church in Końskowola (Lubelskie province)

Abstract

Archaeological explorations carried out inside the crypts of Catholic churches typically deliver a wealth of movable historical artefacts, including numerous devotional objects such as pilgrim souvenirs. During excavation works in the crypts of Końskowola parish church of The Discovery of The Holy Cross and St. Andrew the Apostle, two wooden crosses made of dark wood were found. Looking at the history of devotionalism and the pilgrimage movement, it became possible to define the role of the described objects when they reached Końskowola. Type analysis of the material used in the production of the objects can help in further studies on wooden objects brought to Poland over the centuries.

The Yew Cross from Szczuczyn – a Symbol of Life and Death or an Unusual Memento?

“…In Lublin, on the other hand, the cross found was made of coniferous wood (Niedźwiadek et al 2015, 71-84, 104), as was the cross from a study of crypts in Płock (authors's own research). The situation was different at Końskowola (Dobek and Michalik 2021;Nowosad et al 2021, 97-99), where two pilgrim crosses were identified as an ebony cross and a birch cross, which, painted black, were thought (like the yew) to imitate ebony wood (Fig. 9).…”