Salwator Cemetery

The oldest cemetery catering for Zwierzyniec and the villages nearby was originally situated by the Church of the Holy Saviour. A few graves and around 30 epitaphs in the walls of the church are preserved to this day within its bounds.

The “new” cemetery in Salwator was established in 1865 for the funerals of the residents of Zwierzyniec and the expanding nearby villages: Wola Justowska, Przegorzały, Chełm, Zakamycze, Bielany, and Olszanica. In 1889, the neo-Gothic chapel of St Joseph, designed by Sebastian Jaworzyński, was built here. The cemetery was expanded twice, in 1902 and 1999.

Laid to eternal rest in this cemetery are many famous and honoured souls. Let us mention here only a handful of them: the dramatic artist Karol Hubert Rostworowski, the creator of the Reduta Theatre Juliusz Osterwa, the cartographer Eugeniusz Romer, the founder of the Rapsodyczny Theatre Mieczysław Kotlarczyk, the writer and military pilot Janusz Meissner, and the poet, visual artist and artist of the Piwnica pod Baranami Wiesław Dymny. In 1979, the ashes of the youngest son of Adam Mickiewicz, Józef Rafał – buried in Paris after his death there in 1938 – were brought here. The recent burials include the writer Stanisław Lem (2006) and Jan Błoński (2009), historian of Polish literature and literary critic. The second chapel was built to the design of Witold Cęckiewicz in the newest part of the cemetery in 2003.