Royal Lazienki Museum. Warsaw in Poland, July 31^st 2005 - October 15^th 2005.

   The creation of a bird's eye view photographic portrait of Poland has been in progress for three years.  The portrait is laboriously made in reverence and sensitivity to the beauty of the landscape.  The history intertwines with the contemporary.
      Besides the artistic appeal it is undoubtedly a valuable document. It is a part of that certain documentary art which modern men appreciate as beauty and are as open to as to truth.
      The author, Tomasz Stepien, looks on Poland from the sky which is a privilege of only a few of us and of … the birds.  The portraits, photos refer to the over one thousand years of history of our country.  He does so with passion which characterizes only great artists, and with knowledge
which no historian would be shy of.
      Nature forms a background for the selected historic events or places connected with certain well known Poles, and cities, constructions, historic monuments.  Thanks to the chronological presentation, when we view the exhibition, we may move from the baptism of Mieszko I to 2005 or in the
reverse order, from the present times to the first Piasts.
      Today's exhibition constitutes only a part of a greater project to photograph Poland from the sky. We are waiting for the next exhibitions and publications presenting the present times.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Bogumila Spiewakowska 

Poznan. In 968 it became the seat of the first Polish diocese. Two years after the baptism of Mieszko I, Poland starts to integrate with the European culture.

    N 52°24'  E 016°56'

Gniezno. In 1000 Bolesław Chrobry entertained here the German Emperor, Otton III and was assured of independence of Poland.

Wielkopolska Ethnographic Park in Dziekanowice.  Reconstruction of a 19th century village in Wielkopolska.

        N 52°31'  E 017°23'  

Early spring in Beskid Makowski.

       N 49°43'  E 019°45'

Malbork. In 1274 the Teutonic Order commenced the construction of the castle.  At present this is the largest gothic fortress in Europe.Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997.

     N 54°02.5'  E 019°01.7'

Fall in the vicinity of Malbork.

    N 54°18'  E 019°07' 

The surroundings of Niedzica. In 1330 the Dunajec castle was built on the rocky hill to be extended 300 years later.  At present it houses a museum of the interiors and history of the Spisz region, and a House for Creative Work for Historians of the Arts.

         N 49°25'  E 020°19'  

Rafting in the gorge of the Dunajec river is the major tourist attraction of the Pieniny mountains.

     N 49°25'  E 020°26'

UFO or our Polish cows in Mazowsze?

     N 52°31'  E 020°08'

The waters of the Bug river (lighter shade on the right) mix with the waters of the Narew river.

Pultusk.  It was granted the city rights already in 1339.  The 14th century Plock Bishops’ castle, after many renovations, currently houses the Polonia House.

Surroundings of Bukowina Tatrzanska. The rocky bottom of the Bialka river.

       N 49°22'  E 020°07' 

It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003.

Bialka Tatrzanska on the Bialka river. A summer village and a winter sports centre.

The Vistula in Mazowsze near Otwock.

The waters of the Vistula river and the Baltic Sea meet in the Gdanska Bay.

      N 54°22'  E 018°57'  

Frombork.  Mikolaj Kopernik lived and worked here between 1510 and 1543.  He has proven that it was the Earth with all the other planets that revolve around the Sun, he was ahead of his time.

            N 52°14.9'  E 021°00.8'

The meanders of the Liwiec river in Mazowsze.

     N 52°19'  E 021°59'

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska.  In 1603, at the initiative of the Krakow voivod, Mikolaj Zebrzydowski, an architectural and park landscape complex and pilgrimage park started to be laid out. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

The Babia Gora in the Beskidy mountains (1725 m a.s.l.) .  The Babiogorski National Park has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve ever since 1977.

Warsaw - Wilanow.  In 1677 Jan III Sobieski commenced the construction of a Summer Royal Residence.

Rogalin near Poznan. Between 1770 and 1782 a baroque and classicist palace of the Raczynski family was constructed.

Oaks in the Rogalin Landscaple Park in Wielkopolska. 954 preserved trees have been declared nature monuments.

Cold winter on the Vistula, west of Wyszogrod.

Twierdza Modlin. In 1806, at the instructions of the Emperor Napoleon I, a there commenced a construction of a fortress on the right bank of the river Narew at its outlet into the Vistula.

Krakow. The Kosciuszko Mound is constructed between 1820 and 1823 to commemorate Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a hero of Poland and the United States.

       N 50°03.3'  E 019°53.6' 

A view from above on the bottom of the Vistula near Warsaw.

        N 52°09'  E 021°10'  

Warszawa, ul. Freta 16.  The place of birth of Maria Sklodowska – Curie, an outstanding Polish scientist who won two Nobel Prizes (in 1903 and in 1911) for the discovery and research on radioactive elements.

       N 52°15.1'  E 021°00.5'

Pisa. River bends near Kolno.

The Nidzkie lake.  At the beginning of the 20th century, following the construction of railway, water sports and tourism developed in the area of the Great Masurian Lakes.

Masurian Landscape Park.  Picturesque canoeing trail on the Krutynia river.

      N 53°42'  E 021°32' 

Bielsko – Biala.  The capital of Podbeskidzie, a city surrounded by mountains and forests, emerged in greenery.  Bielsko was given back to Poland in 1918, while Biala in 1920.

       N 49°49.3'  E 019°02.7' 

The Skrzyczne mountain in Beskid Slaski (1257 m a.s.l.).  A tourist and active recreation centre.

Spring on the Czarna Orawa river in the Orawsko - Nowotarska Basin.

      N 49°27'  E 019°39' 

  September on the fields near Nowy Targ.

Wadowice.  The place of birth of Karol Wojtyla (18 May 1920) who became Pope John Paul II.  „ When it was destitute, Poland was granted a king that it has been dreaming of” - Czeslaw Milosz, winner of Nobel Prize for literature, wrote about John Paul II.

      N 49°53.0'  E 019°29.6'

Pogorze Slaskie.  The surroundings of Wadowice.

       N 49°53'  E 019°32'  

An island in Gdanska Bay.

     N 54°22'  E 018°57' 

Westerplatte.  In early morning 1 September 1939 this was the place where the first shots of the II World War were fired.  In 1966 a Memorial for Defenders of the Coast was erected.

     N 54°24.4'  E 018°39.9'

Bełzec. ”This is the site of the slaughter of about 500 000 victims of the Belzec death camp for the murder of Jews who were killed between February and December 1942 by nazi Germany”.

Gdynia.  In the II World War, the Polish destroyer ORP Blyskawica took part in many missions on the European seas and on the Atlantic Ocean.  Today it is berthed as a ship museum alongside the “Dar Pomorza” sailing ship.

     N 54°31.2'  E 018°33.1' 

Warszawa - Zoliborz.  Here, on 1 August 1944, at 13:30 hours, the first battle had been fought in the Warsaw Uprising which was to start only at the “W” hour (17:00 hours).

      N 52°16.1'  E 021°58.8'                                                        

Warsaw - Srodmiescie.  On 9 May 1946, on the first anniversary of German surrender, the Saski Square was renamed as Victory Square; in 1989 it was named after Marshal Jozef Pilsudski.

     N 52°14.4'  E 021°00.7'    

Warsaw, a panorama from the east. On 22 July 1955, the Palace of Culture and Science was commissioned; surrounded by skyscrapers it no longer dominates the city skyline.

       N 52°13.9'  E 021°00.4'                                                        

Spring on the Narew river. The surroundings of Nowy Dwor Mazowiecki.

     N 52°27'  E 020°44'  

The Zegrzynski Basin.  In 1963 a retention lake was created on the lower Narew river.  At present it not only supplies the inhabitants of Warsaw with water, but is also the place of rest in the summer.

October on the Hel Sandbar. The beaches and the Baltic Sea rest after summer.

      N 54°43.4'  E 018°37.6'

Gdansk.  Once the August Accord was signed in 1980, the leadership of the Independent Trade Unions ,,Solidarnosc” (Solidarity) was assumed by Lech Walesa, who would later win the Peace Nobel Prize and become the President of the Republic of Poland.

     N 54°21'  E 018°39'      

 Fall field work in the Zulawy Wislane region.

      N 54°18'  E 019°07'      

Warszawa, the lower (the Sejm) and upper (the Senat) houses of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland.  On 4 June 1989, Komitet Obywatelski „Solidarnosc” (Solidarity) at Lech Walesa won the parliamentary elections.  The opposition had peacefully assumed power.  On 6 April 1990 the Sejm of the Republic of Poland reinstates the National Holiday of the Third May.

     N 52°13.5'  E 021°01.7'      

Warsaw - Praga.  On 10 October 1991 one of the major streets in Warsaw is named Aleja Solidarnosci (Solidarity Avenue).

     N 52°15.3'  E 021°02.1'      

Warsaw. A look on our capital city from the north – west. Poland became a member of the European Union on 1 May 2004.

     N 52°13'  E 020°59'

Warsaw,  The Ostrogscy Castle in Powisle.  It houses the Frederic Chopin’s Society which organises the Frederic Chopin International Piano Contest Competition.  In the fall of 2005 it will be already the 15th competition promoting the music of our great composer.

      N 52°14.2'  E 021°01.4'       

Warsaw. A panorama from the north.

     N 52°13.9'  E 021°00.4'