Domus Dei: Poland's Wooden Places of Worship

by Adam Bujak

"[...] Many vestiges of that brotherhood survive in Poland, where once vast expanses of forest stretched and Nature supplied Man with an everyday stock of material to build his civilisation. Wood was the resource for the first castles and strongholds, fortalices, cottages, country houses and palaces. But another class of fine dwellings erected here were the houses for divine worship. These magnificent places of prayer, traditionally built in wood for many religions, rites, and denominations, still stand today. They still testify to the brotherhood, that extraordinary union of Man with Nature, and to its unique fruits. The mastercraftsmen not only had to know the wood, but also to understand their patrons' wishes, and to put them into their own language - the language of the beams, braces, trusses, logs and cupolas. Just how they met the many challenges is best displayed in their works. There is probably no other country in Europe - and very few elsewhere - with wooden edifices for the divine worship of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Inside them for centuries people have been praying in various tongues, invoking the Deity in a multiplicity of names. But the master-builder has always been the same. And will be recognised by one able to read his works. The Roman Catholic churches are the most numerous, understandably. The oldest as regards indisputable dating is at Zborowek, with the year 1459 carved into a board to mark its foundation. Haczow Church may go back even to the mid-14th century, thus a counterpart of the last monarch of the Piast dynasty." (from the Introduction). -- Roman Catholic Churches; Lutheran Churches; Uniate Catholic Churches; Orthodox Churches; Old Believers' Prayer-Houses; Mosques; Places of Worship No Longer Extant; Glossary; Map

173 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Adam Bujak is a Polish artist photographer. He has been a recipient of numerous awards and honours, such as the Order of St. Mary Magdalene, the Grand Order of St. Zygmunt, "Totus 2003" - a prize of Fundacja Dzieło Nowego Tysiąclecia (Work of the New Millennium Foundation). In 2013 he was awarded a gold medal of John Paul II and in 2005, by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. His achievements include 300 albums, posters and calendars. He became famous as Pope John Paul II's photographer but also as a tireless documentarian of Polish history, tradition, customs and architecture. He is absolutely unique and outstanding in the way he portrays and preserves both Christian and other religions' rituals. Not only do his photographs show events, but first and foremost they focus on participant' emotions. Adam Bujak is endowed with a genuine gift for capturing the most transitory moments of human life. Owing to his talent, but more importantly his personality and modesty, places inaccessible to most of us become open to him and his camera. They include Polish contemplative monastery of the Camaldolese monks and convents of the Norbertine and the Carmelite nuns, Orthodox Rus or closed and mistrustful community of the Romani.

Source (16.03.2014):
http://adambujak.pl/bio