Sanktuarium w Skrzatuszu jako miejsce kultu religijnego w diecezji koszalińsko-kołobrzeskiej

Sanctuary in Skrzatusz as a place of religious worship in Koszalin-Kołobrzeg Diocese

Summary: The main purpose of this paper was to present diocesan sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in Skrzatusz as place of religious worship. The article discloses the symptoms of forming the Virgin Mary's cult and the changes that were appearing within it, regarding historical conditions. It presents also the development of pilgrimage movement, which remains an important aspect of sanctuary's existence, moreover, the attention was paid to the social and demographic structure of the pilgrims, the motives of taking pilgrimage and the attempt was made to try estimate the scope and directions of sanctuary's influence. How the research has shown, the sanctuary in Skrzatusz has been playing for over 500 years a very important role in the mission of bruiting the faith. Generally, we can distinguish three elements that accompanied the process of shaping pilgrimage movement, and which defined the importance and meaning of the sanctuary: 1) historical events, 2) the role of the sanctuary in culture and priesthood of the region with the special attention paid to preserving Polish national identity on this area 3) geographical location of the sanctuary. According to the research taken, the diocesan sanctuary in Skrzatusz is visited by pilgrims from different age groups. People taking part in pilgrimage come to the sanctuary with different means of transport, and on foot. The significant share in the total number of pilgrims has the members of different social movements. The location of Skrzatusz on the route of walking pilgrimages to Częstochowa makes it the starting point of pilgrims from Koszalin-Kołobrzeg Diocese, who are going to Jasna Góra. The vast number of organized couch pilgrimages to Licheń and Częstochowa visit the sanctuary in Skrzatusz. The research show that the pilgrims come to the sanctuary of Skrzatusz all year round with the special intensification during the months of summer holidays. Because of the transit character of the place of religious worship of Skrzatusz, inhabitants of so distant cities like Łódź, Szczecin or Warsaw, visit it. Generally, the spatial scope of influence of the sanctuary can be defined as regional, because in the high share it is limited to the territory of the diocese, which was proved by numerous researches. It should be pointed out, that Skrzatusz has rather good communicational accessibility, but the tourist base is still in much worse condition. There are no places of accommodation for the pilgrims (despite the private rooms) and suitable points of gastronomy. There are plans of building Pilgrim's House in the period of 2007-2013.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 2007, z. 18, s. 119-138.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1425-1922

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