Community workers save Vilnius relics

On Old Rasos, historical Vilnius necropolis the restoration of the Jeleńscy sepulchral chapel was finished. This architectural monument was restored thanks to funds collected by the Social Committee “Poznań for Rasos”.

Pseudo-gothic chapel of the Jeleńscy family is right behind the main gate on the right-hand side. It was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Alina and Mieczysław Jeleńscy are buried in it. Mieczysław Jeleński (1834-1902) was an agricultural industrialist in the Vilnius Region, owner of a large farm in Glinciszki which was known from its model breeding.

He was related to the novelist Emma Jeleńska-Dmochowska which is also buried on Rasos. He was married twice. For the first time with Jadwiga Obuchowicz, and then with Maria Jeleńska, a well-known philanthropist.

He died childless, leaving a considerable wealth.

Alina Jeleńska(1848-1905) is buried in this chapel, she was probably Mieczysław’s sister. A Vilnius building company “Rolija” performed the renovation works.

“For years we have been dealing with the renovation of monuments on Rasos. We choose monuments which most urgently need help. This year we entirely exchanged the roof of the Jeleńscy chapel which was in danger of collapsing. The damp got to the interior of the historic chapel and it could entirely destroy it”, said the director of the company Robert Kutuć. The necropolis is on the list of the register of protected national monuments.

“Preparing many needed documents and accurate cost estimate of the reconstruction of the chapel took quite a lot of time. For bureaucratic reasons restoration works took a little bit longer, but were successfully finished “, added Kutuć.

Because of the occasional acts of vandalism and natural deteriorating of the historic monuments, more and more objects need help.

“We compiled a list of monuments which are in the emergency state and we plan to renovate them next year. The gravestone of Michał Innocenty Burhardt and many other neglected monuments were shortlisted. The renovation of historic gravestones is very costly, so every lithium counts ” – summed up the director of the building company.

So far thanks to the goodwill of Poznań citizens, they managed to rescue as many as 12 monuments on Rasos: Mączyńscy chapel, Malinowscy chapel, Gimbut chapel, Bonifrat Brothers chapel, Strumiłło chapel, tomb of Antoni Marcinkowski, Hermanowicz Family monument, Burzyńscy Family chapel, the tomb of the Rudnicki and Strzemiński Family, Bartoszewicz Family chapel, Felix Nowodniczański chapel, Kondratowicz quarter was tidied up. All these monuments were restored thanks to priest Edmund Jaworski, born in Poznań and Vilnius citizen in heart and soul. Our newspaper is providing patronage for actions of Poznań citizens.

Funds collected during this year’s collection will be donated to the renovation of the gravestone of Michał Innocenty Burhardt (1838-1908). Historic monument of the kneeling Christ on the tomb of Burhardts is falling into ruin. Burhardt was a doctor, a community worker and a January insurgent. Bolesław Bałzukiewicz (1879-1935), one of the most important sculptors of the beginning of the 20th century, is the author of the sculpture of the kneeling Christ. Through his entire life he was closely linked with Vilnius and is buried on Rasos.

The Burhardt gravestone is broken at the base and is in danger of collapsing.