July 8th
Another interesting and busy day and another impressive castle — this time in Golub-Dobrzyń. Originally built by Teutonic Order it came possession of Polish kings in XV century and was extensively expanded and rebuilt. It has a nice collection of period artifacts and weaponry from the XV-XVII centuries. Also, there is a small ethnographical collection showing the earliest settlements of that area. In that collection, there is an almost completed skeleton that was unearthed during archeological digs. It was buried in the IX century in Scandinavian custom with Scandinavian items — most likely a Viking. What was he doing there? Was he a trader? Or a mercenary? Who buried him in accordance with foreign customs? And why exactly are his remains on the display? I see it as a desecration of human remains, as an affront to human decency. I think that there shouldn't be any human remains (even as mummies) to be shown in museums. I know that a dead person doesn't care and most likely there are no living relatives to be livid about this treatment but it’s about us — we should know better and be better than this — human remains, once interred, should remain there. Putting them on display is wrong and deeply unethical.
Seeing those remains reminded me of this poem by Constantine Cavafy:
Prayer
A sailor drowned in the sea’s depths. —
Unaware, his mother goes and lights
a tall candle before the ikon of our Lady
praying that he’ll come back quickly, that the weather may be good —
her ear cocked always to the wind.
While she prays and supplicates,
the ikon listens, solemn, sad,
knowing the son she waits for never will come back.
Anyways…. there are some amazing views from the hill on which this castle is located:
I visited Chelmno today as well — a town located on the Vistula river, a very important settlement and then town from the early Middle Ages to the XV century. I was extremely surprised by what I found there — a well-preserved Old Town, plenty of Gothic and early-renaissance churches and townhouses. Not many tourists which is another plus. That town should be much better known as a tourist destination but I guess it is overshadowed by Torun only 40km away. Anyway — I enjoyed my time there a lot and I found this there:
One nave, gothic church of the Holy Spirit, well preserved in the last 700 years, a little off the beaten path in Chelmno. It is still a church on occasions but now it is also used as theater — and that is perfect usage for any church in the world — since spectacle is performed at the altars anyway, let's have some good, proper plays on the display there.
