Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Gniezno

  • Gniezno – Statue of Adalbert of Prague

    This statue of Adalbert of Prague was erected to mark 1,000 years since the saint’s death. He was given the job of the Bishop of Gniezno, which I imagine was quite a privileged and comfortable role, but he was then sent out to go preaching to the people of Prussia. If he did this voluntarily, he was a very brave man, as missionaries didn’t always fare well at this time.

    Anyway, he went off to Prussia and he was killed by barbarians, or technically, pagans. The church was quite keen on relics back then and his bones were finally brought back, after some argument, to Gniezno Cathedral in around 1,000AD. All was well with this situation until Bohemian Duke Břetislav I stole the bones in 1039 and he excitedly moved them to Prague.

    Then the story gets more confusing, as it seems the Duke stole the wrong bones, he pinched the remains of Gaudentius of Brescia. Now, he was still a saint, but it wasn’t the saint that the Duke really wanted. In 1127, Gniezno Cathedral also got Adalbert’s head, although goodness knows where that went for over 125 years.

    So there’s now the situation that Prague thinks it has the bones of Adalbert, and so does Gniezno. They both managed to have the saint’s head, which is just a little confusing, but it was made more surreal when in 1923 someone pinched Adalbert’s head (assuming he is in Gniezno) and they’ve never recovered that.

    Anyway, it’s a nice statue.

  • Gniezno – Sculpture of Bolesław I the Brave

    It occurs to me that I wouldn’t mind a sculpture like this of Julian the Brave in a few decades, perhaps I might mention it to Dylan…. Anyway, it’s of Bolesław I the Brave who was the Duke of Poland from 992 until 1025 and also the first person to be titled as the King of Poland.

    Bolesław I the Brave, also known as Bolesław I the Great (which would also be satisfactory to me if Dylan wants to change it), is a little bit of a national hero and his coronation was also at Gniezno. He established the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno, and the city remains today as Poland’s ecclesiastical capital.

     

  • Gniezno – Cukiernia Sowa

    This was one of the better rated coffee shops in Gniezno and since Poland doesn’t have Greggs (yet), this was the lunch option for me. Located at ulica Rzeźnicka 1, this is part of a national chain which has around 150 shops in Poland.

    OK, so they’re not chicken bakes from Greggs, but the cakes do look rather lovely.

    Well how lovely, colourful and appetising.

    Incidentally, and entirely irrelevant to anything, I like when coffee shops and restaurants place the cutlery like that. It’s far more common in Poland than in the UK, but I think it looks tidier. Anyway, I went for an eclair and it was full of crème pâtissière and it occurred to me that Richard would have been impressed with it.

    I really wanted another eclair after finishing the first, but I didn’t want the staff to think that I was greedy, and anyway, if I’d had a second I’d have only wanted a third. Coffee was above average as well with a rich flavour. Total cost of the coffee and eclair was around £2.20, but this coffee shop did have a premium feel to it.

    And, as for the service, it was impeccable. The server prepared my order behind the counter and refused to let me carry it, she wanted to bring it over on a tray (she probably thought I was an idiot and would drop it on their clean floor). I didn’t want to cause any diplomatic incidents (although I suspect it wouldn’t have got that far) so I didn’t resist. Friendly and engaging service, with the environment being clean and comfortable. There seemed to be a  lot of ladies at lunch during my visit… All rather lovely.