Cemeteries in Warsaw

The beginning of November is a time to commemorate those who passed away. Many Polish visit graves of family members and friends.

Continue reading to learn trivia about cemeteries in Warsaw and customs related to the Day of the Dead.

Cemeteries in Warsaw

Warsaw, capital city of Poland, has around 50 cemeteries. Cemeteries usually can be divided into 3 groups:

• religious;
• state;
• army or war-related.

Most of the cemeteries in Warsaw (and Poland) are related to a parish or one of the faiths. Majority of them are burying the Roman Catholics, but we have also Jewish, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim and also other minor religious cemeteries.  

There are only 3 state cemeteries in Warsaw. One of them is the Military Powązki Cemetery, which was military cemetery in the past, currently it's state cemetery. 

Since in Polish history we fought a lot (including rebellions against occupants) we have a lot of cemeteries related to fighting and wars. Especially in Warsaw. I was writing earlier about some war-related cemeteries in Wola district, but we have more of them. For example a cemetery of Italian soldiers. Some of the graves in the cemeteries are symbolic only.

Customs

The busiest time in cemeteries is around 1st and 2nd November, when Polish visit the graves to commemorate those who passed away. First November is All Saints' Day, second November is All Souls Day. The cemeteries during those time (especially in the evenings) look the best, in my opinion. All because there are lots of flowers and candles on the graves.

You can visit the cemeteries freely, just remember that you should be respectful both to living and the dead ones. This means, most importantly, not running around, shouting and not stepping on the graves. We don't eat in the cemeteries, so you shouldn't too. 

If you want to commemorate somebody (say, a famous Polish buried in the Old Powązki cemetery) just buy a candle in a stand around the cemetery and lit it on a grave. During the holidays, there are a lot more stands with candles and flowers around the cemetery. Just beware of the crowd!

Holiday

First November is a free-from-work holiday, second November is a regular workday. Due to 2013's calendar (01.11 was Friday), many people had long weekend. People often go to their hometowns to visit the graves.

Transport

During the holidays there are extra cemetery public transport lines - both buses and tramways (numbers starting with C like cemetery or cmentarz in Polish). It's easier to go with public transport, as there is little place for parking around cemeteries but still many cars. 

Extra links

• Map of cemeteries in Warsaw;
• Finding a grave in state cemetery in Warsaw (Polish language).