Hi there my Hivean friends and followers!
After some time, I am happy to come up with another episode of my photography series dedicated to interesting architectural pieces that I have got to see during my travels. This time around, I will take you to a very special place, a mysterious Camaldolese monastery that is located on the top of Srebrna Gora (meaning the Silver Mountain in English) in Krakow, Poland.
I guess I should start out by explaining what Camaldolese actually means as it might be the first time you are coming across this word, just like I was. In fact, Camaldolese is an ancient, very rare monastic order founded by St. Romuald in the early 11th century. These days, there are only some 60 Camaldolese monks who live in just 9 monasteries found in various parts of the world. Italy, the country where the order originated, is home to 3 monasteries, there are 2 in Poland (one them being this one) while Spain, USA, Colombia and Venezuela all house 1 monastery.
The Camaldolese order is extremely strict. The monks live in their hermitages, they only meet for the masses and prayers and they can only talk to each other on certain days of the week. They are vegetarian and they can only eat what they grow in the fields and gardens that are a part of the monastery complex. No modern technologies are allowed in there and the monks cannot leave the monastery unless absolutely necessary (for example when they need to see a doctor). Men from outside of the monastery can only visit the place at certain times of the day and women can only go inside on just 12 special days during the year (for example on the Easter Sunday, on the Pentecost Monday or on the Assumption of Mary).
We already visited the monastery twice - a couple of months ago for the first time and then last week again - but we didn´t get inside the complex on neither of these two occasions, we could only admire this very interesting landmark from the outside. That´s also where I took all these photos from. The first picture was taken during our second visit last week, the other ones were taken in May earlier this year (that´s why the trees were still leafless, it was a very cold spring here in Europe this year).
As I already mentioned, the monastery is located on a hill on the outskirts of Krakow and the remote location is not a coincidence at all. When the monks first settled there in the early 17th century, it was just a hill surrounded by dense woods. The city of Krakow was much smaller and far away back then. The monks were looking for a remote place where they wouldn´t be disturbed in their simple but very strict, ascetic lives so they decided to build the monastery right there on the top of the hill. There is also this old walled driveway leading to the monastery.
I don´t know why but when I was first walking up there, without even knowing about the existence of this mysterious order or the purpose of the monastery, I had a very strange feeling that this place is really special. It definitely has a very unique, somewhat spiritual atmosphere and vibes. It´s literally just a few old stone walls that separate you from people living there in absolute solitude, silence, contemplation and asceticism for centuries...
Apart from the monastery itself, the walled complex also includes the hermitages for the monks and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There also must be some gardens and fields in there where the monks grow their crops while adjacent to it, there are the renowned Srebrna Gora Vineyards (I haven´t found out whether the monks work in the vineyards too so I cannot tell).
To find out more about this very special, spiritual place, you can check out this article where you can also find an aerial shot of the whole complex that will give you a much better idea of the size and magnificence of this unique site.
Thanks for your attention everyone, have a nice day and enjoy the weekend :)
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