#wayside crosses

[life-of-architecture]

Szczawnik krzyż z 1913 r. przed cerkwią św. Dymitra foto z 26 lipca 2017

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Szczawnik, Poland a 1913 cross in front of the Church of St. Demetrius taken on 26 July 2017

[frank-olivier]

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

[life-of-architecture]

Muszyna ul. Piłsudskiego foto z 26 lipca 2017

Krzyż ustawiony w 2014 r. na dawnym miejscu kościoła św. Marii Magdaleny, spalonego w XVIII w.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Muszyna, Poland Piłsudskiego St. taken on 26 July 2017

The cross set in 2014 on the former site of St. Mary Magdalene Church, burned in 18th c.

[slavicafire]

I'm in Canada and I've been seeing those crosses all my life, they always make me sad. They can be found anywhere from beside a gravel back road to a busy street in a big city. I've never seen one removed or complained about.

yes, the reminder that death is indeed everywhere around us, and within us, and so often sudden and cruel, always brings sadness that is difficult to put into words.

thank you for the addition!

[slavicafire]

Id km if you're still talking about the crosses on the side of the road but here (New York) we dont have anything permanent. It seems like you're are supposed to stay for a very long time, but here I've seem small crosses that wont last long, or more often a wreth/flowers/ribbon tied up somewhere near by. Depending on the area the stiff will be replaced, or not.

ah, thank you for the addition - I assume in crowded areas it does work differently. here I know crosses - and quite a couple of them - much older than me.

[slavicafire]

We have crosses beside the roads where I live in Canada. However, they tend to be a little bit more showy for lack of a better word. A lot of them have vibrant fake flowers and some of the newer ones have stuffed animals by them. They usually have the persons name on them to in big letters so you can read it from the road.

here it’s usually rather... solemn, I think. another interesting difference in death culture across the seas, thank you for adding!

[slavicafire]

In Italy I didn't see crosses. I did, however, see marble plates, much like the ones on the cementaries, often with photos and engraved with person's name and when they died, on the walls and sides of the roads.

oh, how interesting! as if actual graves. 

thank you!

[slavicafire]

narrativerehearsal replied to your post “I'm in the Uk and we have some of those crosses by the side of the...”

They tend not to be in town centres in the UK (at least not near me) but we do have 'ghost bikes' for cyclists that were killed. They paint the bike white and add the name and chain it up near the crash site. I have seen little shrines instead of crosses in Greece. I saw them most after the awful fires in 2007 when most of them were melted and twisted and heartbreaking.

oh my, how fascinating. I have never seen - or heard of - such bikes, thank you so much for the addition.

and the burnt and twisted cross imagery is so strangely moving, just through text alone. goodness.