Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in

Wola Wola () is a district in western Warsaw, Poland. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into a major financial district, featuring various landmarks and some of the tallest offi ...

district, in the western part of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 1790. It is the burial place of many illustrious individuals from Polish history. Some are interred along the "Avenue of the Distinguished" – ''Aleja Zasłużonych'', created in 1925. It is estimated that over one million people are buried at Powązki. The cemetery is often confused with the newer Powązki Military Cemetery, which is located to the north-west of Powązki Cemetery.

History

Powązki Cemetery was established on 4 November 1790 on land donated by nobleman Melchior Szymanowski, and consecrated on 20 May 1792. Initially it covered an area of only about 2.5 ha. In the same year Saint Karol Boromeusz Church, designed by Dominik Merlini, was built on the northern edge of the cemetery. The

catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

were erected soon thereafter. Several other cemeteries were founded in the area: the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

cemetery, and those of the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, Caucasian and Tatar communities. The Orthodox cemetery is also located in the vicinity. As in many old European cemeteries, some of the tombstones in Powązki were created by renowned sculptors, both Polish and foreign. Some of the monuments are examples of the then prevailing styles in art and architecture. On ''

All Saints Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christianity, Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether ...

'' (1 November) and '' Zaduszki'' (2 November) in Warsaw, vigils are held not only in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cemeteries, but in the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish and Orthodox cemeteries as well to honor the deceased and express remembrance. At Powązki Cemetery, many graves are lit up by Votive candles

Notable burials

A few of the notables buried here are: * Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (1834–1861), composer * Izabela Barcińska née Chopin, (1811–1881), younger sister of Fryderyk Chopin * Anna Bilińska (1857–1893), painter * Wojciech Bogusławski (1757–1829), writer, actor, director * Stefan Bryła (1886–1943), notable for first welding bridge-Maurzyce Bridge * Jan Gotlib Bloch (1836–1902), banker, railroad entrepreneur, philanthropist, economist, economist and social activist * Emilia Chopin (1812–1827), youngest sister of Fryderyk Chopin *

Ludwika Jędrzejewicz Ludwika Jędrzejewicz (; Chopin; 6 April 1807 – 29 October 1855) was the elder sister of Polish people, Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. She was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1807, the daughter of Nicolas Chopin and his wife Justyna. She was n ...

née Chopin (1807–1855), oldest sister of Fryderyk Chopin *

Mikołaj Chopin Nicolas Chopin (; 15 April 17713 May 1844) was a teacher of the French language in History of Poland (1795–1918), Partitioned Poland, and father of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin#Childhood, Frédéric Chopin.Łopaciński, "Chopin, Mikołaj" ...

(1771–1844), father of Fryderyk Chopin * Tekla Justyna Chopin (1782–1861), mother of Fryderyk Chopin * Halina Chrostowska (1929–1990), printmaker, activist, and educator * Gerard Antoni Ciołek (1909–1966), architect and historian of gardens * Ignacy Dobrzyński (1807–1867), composer * Jerzy Duszyński (1917–1978), actor * Józef Elsner (1769–1854), composer and conductor. Piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin. * Władysław Filipkowski (1892–1950), military commander * Pola Gojawiczyńska (1896–1963), writer * Józef Gosławski, (1908–1963), sculptor and medallic artist * Marceli Godlewski (1865–1945),

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

* Leopold Janikowski (1855–1942), meteorologist, explorer and ethnographer * Stanisław Janikowski (1891–1965), Polish diplomat * Stefan Jaracz (1883–1945), actor * Jan Kiepura (1902–1966), singer and actor *

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...

(1941–1996), film director * Jan Kiliński (1760–1819), freedom fighter * Stefan Kisielewski (1911–1991), art critic and writer * Stanislava Klimashevskaya (1851–1939), photographer and studio owner * Tomasz Knapik (1943–2021), film, radio and television reader *

Krzysztof Komeda Krzysztof Trzciński (27 April 1931 – 23 April 1969), known professionally as Krzysztof Komeda, was a Polish film score composer and jazz pianist widely regarded as one of the most influential Polish jazz musicians. He is best known for writin ...

(1931–1969),

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

composer * Alfred Kowalski (1849–1915), painter * Henryk Kuna (1885–1945), sculptor * Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994), composer * Józefat Ignacy Łukasiewicz (1789–1850), painter-artist * Maciej Masłowski (1901–1976), art historian * Stanisław Masłowski (1853–1926), painter-artist * Witold Małcużyński (1914–1977), classical pianist * Stefan Mazurkiewicz (1888–1945), co-founder of the Warsaw school of mathematics * Jerzy Mierzejewski (1917–2012), artist and pedagogue * Stanisław Moniuszko (1819–1872), composer * Janusz Nasfeter (1920–1998) – film director and screenwriter; moved in 2018 from the Służew Old Cemetery * Ola Obarska (1910–1992), singer and actress * Antoni Osuchowski (1849–1928), philanthropist and national activist * Piotr Pawlukiewicz (1960–2020), Roman Catholic priest, doctor of pastoral theology * Lech Pijanowski (1928–1974), film-maker and game designer *

Jerzy Pniewski Jerzy Pniewski (Polish: ; June 1, 1913 – June 16, 1989) was a Polish physicist, professor at the University of Warsaw and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is best known for discovering the hypernucleus together with Marian Danys ...

(1913–1989), physicist * Krystyna Piotrowska (1938–2022), Polish geologist, cartographer, professor * Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), journalist and novelist * Grzegorz Przemyk (1964–1983), poet murdered by Milicja Obywatelska * Kazimierz Pużak (1883–1950), died in the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, secretly buried in Powązki * Emil Rauer (1870–1943), industrialist, creator and commander of a railway protection formation, social activist, and independence fighter * Halina Regulska (1899–1994), racing driver, socialite, author, member of Polish resistance movement in World War II * Władysław Reymont (1867–1925),

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

-winning novelist *

Edward Rydz-Śmigły Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz also called Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish people, Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a painter and ...

(1886–1941), politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces * Ireneusz Roszkowski (1910–1996), gynaecologist * Irena Sendlerowa (1910–2008), head of Children's Section of the Żegota *

Wacław Sierpiński Wacław Franciszek Sierpiński (; 14 March 1882 – 21 October 1969) was a Polish mathematician. He was known for contributions to set theory (research on the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis), number theory, theory of functions ...

(1882–1969), mathematician * Piotr Sobociński (1958–2001), cinematographer * Witold Sobociński (1929–2018), cinematographer * Jadwiga Smosarska (1898–1971), actress * Andrzej Sołtan (1897–1959), physicist * Zbigniew Ścibor-Rylski (1917–2018), military commander, participant of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

* Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski (1893–1964), general * Władysław Tryliński (1878–1956), transportation engineer and inventor * Jerzy Waldorff (1910–1999), art critic and one of the benefactors of the Cemetery * Melchior Wańkowicz (1892–1974), writer *

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer, and pedagogue, who is regarded amongst the most distinguished violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew :pl:Adam Tadeusz Wien ...

(1835–1870), composer * Kazimierz Wierzyński (1894–1969), poet and writer * Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932), aircraft designer and aviator *

Stanisław Wojciechowski Stanisław Wojciechowski (; 15 March 1869 – 9 April 1953) was a Polish people, Polish politician and scholar who served as President of Poland between 1922 and 1926, during the Second Polish Republic. He was elected president in 1922, followi ...

(1869–1953), president of Poland * Aleksander Zelwerowicz (1877–1955), actor and director, patron of the Warsaw Drama Academy * Franciszek Żwirko (1895–1932), aviator *

Wojciech Żywny Wojciech Żywny (; 13 May 175621 February 1842) was a Czech-born Polish pianist, violinist, teacher and composer. He was Frédéric Chopin's first professional piano teacher. Life Żywny was born in Mšeno, Bohemia, and became a pupil of J ...

(1756–1842), first piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin, composer. * Helena Morsztynkiewiczowa (1894–1983), architect and urban planner

Gallery

File:PL Warsaw Stare Powązki aleja zasluzonych.jpg, Avenue of Notables File:Kosciol sw Boromeusza w Warszawie.jpg, Saint Karol Boromeusz Church File:PL Warsaw Stare Powązki alejka cmentarza 1.jpg, Old Powązki File:Grob Edwarda Rydza Smiglego.JPG,

grave File:Warsaw Powazki 2007 11 02 20a.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11678.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11660.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11653.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11651.JPG, Old Powązki

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powazki Cemetery Wola * Cemeteries in Warsaw National cemeteries Roman Catholic cemeteries in Poland 1790 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Cemeteries established in the 1790s

History

Notable burials

Gallery

See also

References