Rocks and Water

June 28, 2006

On Saturday, I decided to finally make a trip that I had been planning for a very long time, but had never been able to. The weather was beautiful, and so I took the opportunity to go out on a bike ride through Kraków, to Zakrzówek, an area on the south bank of the Vistula, located in the “Skałka Twardowskiego Nature Preserve.” Since I bought a book back in February, entitled, “Kraków: City of My Life,” I have been trying to visit most of the places described. The book documents events from the life of Karol Wojtyla, from his life as student, bishop, and cardinal in Kraków, and describes all of the places that have something to do with his studies, his ministry, pilgrimages, etc.

This time, I chose to finally make it out to “the quarry,” called “Zakrzówek,” where young Karol Wojtyla worked in 1940-1941 as a manual laborer. During the war, the Germans required all men of working age to provide documentation of their employment, otherwise they would be taken to one of the Nazi work camps in Germany. In order to have this documentation, and to provide for himself and for his sick father, Wojtyla worked in the rock quarry, which provided limestone for the Solvay Soda Factory, in southern Kraków (where he also worked later in his life as a student). It was here, that he worked blasting, digging, and on the narrow-gauge railroad. In what would be a formative experience for the rest of his life, here he learned the value and dignity of human labor, and the time even became an inspiration for some of his poems (such as the aptly named Quarry.) Seeing his bright intellectual future, his fellow workers sought to aid him by relieving him of his load, so that he could read the books with which he could constantly be found.

This time in Wojtyła’s life has always been an inspiration for me, and so I especially wanted to visit this place where so much sweat had poured out from the hard work in the midst of the war. The quarry ceased functioning after the Second World War, when the Solvay Factory was closed. Eventually, the factory was torn down, and the Church of Our Lady of Victory stands on the spot.

Arriving by bicycle to the nature preserve that now surrounds the grounds of the former quarry, I was shocked by the little enclave of peace and quiet within the hustle and bustle of the city. Located only about four miles in a direct line from downtown, the park is a much-needed and well-loved place of relaxation for many people, who come there to tan, to jog, to read, or simply to get away a little from the noise of the city. Perhaps one of the most popular activities is the “illegal” swimming, since officially it is not allowed, but all of the police officers and officials must pretend they don’t see it happening. In the middle of the park lies a blue-green lake, in perhaps one of the most picturesque settings I have seen. In the early 1990’s, the ground water from the old rock quarry pit rose, and the entire old quarry was filled with water, creating a large lake, surrounded by white limestone cliffs and beautiful scenery. The views are breathtaking. I rode my bike up a trail that led through the marshy areas of the outskirts of the nature preserve, and suddenly, I reached a fence, which separated me from about a 150-200 foot drop, at the bottom of which glistened the aquamarine water, lit by the summer sun. Needless to say, going down to swim in it was a very tempting proposition, but I refrained and decided to ride my bike around the perimeter of the lake. Just to have an idea of how big the quarry was, the lake that know fills it is about a half a mile in diameter, and about a mile and a half in circumference.

Though a fence surrounds the entire area, in typical Polish style, many people climb it or find holes in it, in order to go to the very edge of the cliff, or to climb down the lower parts to the edge of the lake. It was amusing to see one person lying on a big air mattress in the middle of the lake, tanning in the sun. I know that many people have drowned at the lake, due to odd currents that sometimes create funnels that pull people down. Apparently, these are not the only dangers there, since upon continuing around the lake, I found a memorial plaque on the fence, which was surrounded by candles and flowers. Sadly, a Ukrainian student from the Kraków Music Academy had been there with his father last year in May, when he fell to his death from the edge of the cliff. Apparently, he was one of the most promising young voices at the academy, and had a bright future ahead of him. The sad reality reminded me of the true fragility of life, and how one can really be taken from this world at any moment!

Continuing on, I eventually passed “Elvis Presley Way,” a small asphalt path in the trees, named for the American for some odd reason. This north side of the lake was the most heavily wooded, and part of the original nature preserve that had been planned there already in the 1930’s. Exiting from the dark and deep woods, which I definitely enjoyed for the shade, I came out into the open fields again, which provided a beautiful view of the southern parts of Kraków, including the Divine Mercy Shrine in Lagiewniki, as well as the new apartment complexes that are quickly rising as the city expands.

Returning back to the place where I started, I rode up another hill, and there I spent a few hours, enjoying the beautiful view of the entire city. Before me stretched the Vistula River basin, with Wawel Hill and the Royal Castle dominating the landscape in front of me. A bit farther, rose the uneven twin towers of St. Mary’s Church, the ancient guardian and protector of the city, from whose tower the bugler plays his melody every hour. To my left, stretched Blonia Park, the ancient pasture land, now the largest open meadow in any European city, and the site of multiple papal pilgrimages and Masses. As if to crown the fields, the Kosciuśko Mound rose above them, topped with people, like little ants on their anthill. To my right, stretched the hills of Kraków, and if the smog were not as thick further out, then I would be able to see the peaks of the Tatra Mountains, a mere sixty miles south, and in a completely different, snowy world of their own.

I could imagine the young man who would be the pope working down there behind me, somewhere at the bottom of the current lake, sanctifying his work and learning about the dignity of man through direct experience with the physical suffering of hard labor. It was from this incredible spot that he had taken away so many memories and formative experiences. Would it be the same for me? I had come to Kraków, as I think I put it back in February, “to grow closer and deeper in my faith life, particularly coming to better know the saint of our modern times, Karol Wojtyła, in whose beloved Krakow I will be studying.”

It appears that this visit to the quarry, which formed young Wojtyła may be one of the last places outside of downtown related to his life in Kraków that I may be able to visit. This week I am traveling, and am currently in Warsaw. I will be going to Lwów (Lviv, Leopolis), Ukraine, next weekend, hoping to visit and see this classic and culturally Polish city. More news to come…