Cemetery of the Distinguished at Pęksowy Brzyzek in Zakopane

The Cemetery of the Distinguished at Pęksowy Brzyzek, also called the Old Cemetery, is Zakopane's first necropolis, located on ulica Kościeliska. It was founded by Father Józef Stolarczyk, the first parish priest of Zakopane, and people connected with Zakopane, the Tatras and Podhale are buried here.

Origin of the name and how it came about

The name comes from Jan Pęksa, the donor of the land. In highlander dialect brzyz means a bluff above a stream. The cemetery by St Clement's Church was established in the second half of the 19th century, and sources give different dates: Wikipedia has 1851, the heritage register dates it to 1848. In 1908 a new cemetery was founded on ulica Nowotarska. The old one was entered in the heritage register at the end of 1931, and at that time it also received its present name, and only eminent and distinguished people were now buried in it.

Layout and gravestones

The site covers about 0.5 ha and is surrounded by a stone wall with a gate designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz. There are about 500 graves here, including about 250 of distinguished people. The gravestones take the form of shrines and highlander crosses with Podhale motifs, they are wooden, metal and stone, and there are also paintings on glass. In the 1950s the wall was renovated, with bas-reliefs and the inscription "Ojczyzna to ziemia i groby" ("The homeland is the land and the graves") added.

Who rests here

Wikipedia lists, among others, the writers Kornel Makuszyński and Władysław Orkan, the poet Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, the physician and Tatra climber Tytus Chałubiński, the highlander Sabała, the sculptor Władysław Hasior, and the Tatra climbers and mountaineers Stanisław and Helena Marusarz, Zofia Radwańska-Paryska, Witold Paryski and Maciej Berbeka. The sculptures on the grave of Maria Witkiewiczowa were made by Hasior. Witkacy has a symbolic grave here, and Karol Szymanowski and Mieczysław Karłowicz are commemorated by plaques.

Nearby

About 500 m from the cemetery is the Karol Szymanowski Museum in the Villa Atma, and a little under 3 km further on the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima. The summit of Nosal is about 3.8 km away.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Kościeliska, Zakopane.
• This is an active cemetery and a resting place; silence and respect are required.
• Check the rules of entry, including any fee for upkeep, on the spot or with the parish.
• Heritage register: number A-56 of 1931. The administrator is the Zakopane City Office.