Tłukienka in Bukowno

Address:

Bukowno

GPS:

50° 15' 54.288" N 19° 26' 46.3668" E

In Bukowno, next to the now defunct "Ulisses"shaft of the zinc and lead mine, a chapel was built at the end of the sixties of the nineteenth century. The  building, made  of rubble and bricks, was founded by miners from the  "Ulisses" and "Jerzy"shafts,  who built the building in honor of their patron, Saint Barbara. It is difficult to gather more information about this temple. One of the few sources is the novel "Ogień w pirytach", written by Jan Waśniowski, native of Bolesław. It reads:

"... The day of Saint Barbara came. The East lit up with a bright red glow ... It was windy, cold, but sunny. On the hardened earth of the marketplace  before Gathering House, the merchants bustled, constructing their stalls. Numbed hands stretched out on poles rigid sheets of tent canvas and threw out the goods from bags onto makeshift counters.  The market was by then teeming with workers, women and children, and high voices insistently demanded presents. Firtst the service, first the prayer- earnest fathers urged the little ones. In the mine chapel a mass of human heads crowded together. There was a burst of the long, traditional song to Saint Barbara. An artless choir boomed with a prayer which praised the dignity of work as hard as granite,  a request for the reversal of misfortune wove in. There  sounded  the strong faith of the people, who for generations day by day, went down into the mine to delve into hard rocks in the darkness, in weariness and in constant fear of death ... (...) Among the black human swarm wandered  a dozen miners in the black parade uniforms. Gold buttons ran in  two diagonal rows from the breast to the belt buckle. The gleaming plumes of their small round hats were shaking in the wind ... "

The Church of Saint Barbara - one of the mining symbols of the land, is not in good condition today. It requires support, repair ...

Source: District Office in  Olkusz