WALERY ELJASZ RADZIKOWSKI (1840-1905)
Giewont (1,895 m- 6, 217 ft)
Poland
The mountain
Giewont Giewont (1,895 m- 6, 217 ft) is a mountain massif in the Tatra Mountains of Poland. It is 1,895 m - at its highest. The massif has three peaks :
- Great Giewont - Wielki Giewont (1,895 m- 6, 217 ft)
- Long Giewont - Długi Giewont (1,867 m- 6, 125 ft)
- Small Giewont - Polish Mały Giewont (1,728 m - 5,669 ft)
There is a mountain pass located between Great and Long Giewont, known as Szczerba (1,823 m- 5, 980 ft). Long Giewont and Great Giewont are situated at a higher altitude than the nearby town of Zakopane, making them clearly visible from that city.
On Great Giewont, there is a 15 m steel cross (erected in 1901) - the site of religious pilgrimages. The area is notorious for its hazardous nature during thunderstorms, so this should be taken into consideration when approaching the summit.
The first recorded ascent to Giewont's summit was undertaken in 1830 by Franciszek Herbich and Aleksander Zawadzki (a19th century explorer). The first winter ascent of Giewont occurred in 1904 by a group of five mountaineers led by Mariusz Zaruski. Nowadays the climbing on Giewont is strictly banned. On the other hand, hiking on the hiking trails is allowed and the access (except the winter) is not difficult hence Giewont is a very popular destination among amblers and Sunday tourists. In the summer up to few thousands tourists a day ascend the top.
Giewont lies in the area of the Polish Tatra National Park (Tatrzański Park Narodowy). In Polish folklore it is associated with a legend about oversleeping knights, who will awake when Poland is in danger.
The painter
Walery Eljasz Radzikowski was a Polish painter and photographer, promoter of the Tatra Mountains and Zakopane, co-founder of the Tatra Society, author of Tatra guides, a correspondent member of the Society of the Polish National Museum in Rapperswil from 1897, a member of the Faculty of the Gymnastic Society "Sokół" in Krakow in 1895.
He painted mainly historical paintings, landscapes of the Tatras, as well as sights of Krakow's landmarks, portraits, religious paintings and wall paintings. During his studies, together with his colleagues, he took outdoor trips, during which he painted sketches, and landscapes. He created not only on canvas, but also on natural ground, such as the image of Our Lady of Skalska on a limestone wall in the Mnikowska Valley. During the expeditions to the Tatras in drawings and paintings, he preserved the mountain views and customs of the highlanders.
In 1890, he began to photograph the Tatra Mountains, local construction, residents' traditions and their costumes. They served him as a help for paintings and drawings, they were also published in magazines, albums and in the form of postcards. He was not a pioneer of the Tatra photography (the first photos were taken at the end of the 1850s by Walery Rzewuski and Meletius Dutkiewicz), but he contributed to its popularization.
___________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
