Scotland: famous Rob Roy's grave -Balquhidder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Every Scot known  great who was Rob Roy. Many from outside Scotland know this character, from the movie under the same title with a famous actors. Unfortunetly beyond the proud Scots, not many know that this human really existed. Robert McGregor mostly known as Rob Roy - thanks the color of his hair- was the leader of the clan McGregor and was outlawed for supporting Jacobites.

Jacobites is a movement supporting the Stuart dynasty on the throne of Scotland ( very briefly note about this huge subject in history, related even to piracy in the Caribbean).

He plundered the prince's lands, escaped from jail, and gained fame as scottish Robin Hood. In 1725 he got abolition and  received landed property Balquhidder, where he moved with family.He's buried  here with his wife Helen ( the film uses her second name Mary) and his son.
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Not much remains of the legendary small  town actually just chapel and old cemetery. The brook flows past the cemetery, giving that place romatic, gothic atmosphere. At this cemetery  is the grave of one of Scotland's most famous national hero. Hero like from the myths and legends. Picturesque hills add a wonderful panorama to place of last rest in peace.

Scotland is a beautiful country and greatly organized for tourism. Although the roads are narrow, you will find here every monument even that most forgotten, is enough to follow the signs at road and advert.That people great known that tourism can give money and educate about history of your country.  That should to be praised. Even if we go astray- Scots are very kind people ... they will surely give us tips on how to get to the place.

 

II World War forgotten shoah memorials in Greater Poland. Konin (monument 1st)

 

 

 

 

 

The II World War in Greater Poland, for the jewish people did not run, as in other polish regions. We will not find here famous german monuments, as in the vicinity of Krakow. There were too many Jews here and to many forests. Konin and Koło were the worse exemples, especialy Konin, but nearby Koło we found as well many terrific symbols.  Nazis transformed the entire city into camps. Quiet , calm forests ''whose by silence, will suppress every shout''.During the war a railway line connecting Berlin and Warsaw ( in direct line) was created by using jewish hands.The romantic railway route through the meadows and forests has own scared secret.

After the rebellion of the Jews in the camp, people were deported. Where? In place which was best to get rid of them,at last they weren't even human creature, worser than animals. 

 They were shot in the surrounding forests. Not hundreds but thousands or even hundreds of thousands.This was  a procedure which today, in certain circles, is not allowed to speak, but it is necessary to speak. Nearly the town of Konin, the monument in forest  speaks about 1500 murded people. And this is the smallest number of  killed in these areas. Not only Jews but also Poles came here, but those in a smaller number of convicts  mostly for help. Old foreman  tell his story.

 ''The SS guards, came into the forester's house at three o'clock in the morning and put a gun to his head. One of them told...You will not say anything about it, you didn't see nothing 1,500 people, including women and children, were brought to the forest and they were told to dig down, a big whole in ground and then nazi soldiers shoot them down and throw them down.One young man survive because he pretended to be a corpse. No more such an ideology and such a war, he says. But I'm worried that now people again love that ideology. When they gone. I went there. I helped that man scramble out under corpses. Where he gone? Did he survive?'' He began to cried.

Describing the massacred heads of small children,they were several years old.''They did not even bury them good. ''added. Unfortnetly he died , so he can't educated people longer.'He told at the end:

' For what? It was not even meat for them.''

 

 

 

 

It is an image of faith and the idea that one nation can be better than another. It is an image of the fact that some people consider themselves better races than others. It's not too many years. Yet many people still believe in these ideas. What's worse are those who used to be on the other side. Maybe they should go to such places or listen a story of old people who will leave us soon and gone to a better world, the natural force of things. Who will teach then them?
Places like that never should be forget. Beautiful , calm , quiet forests , isn't it....
In that region you will find thousands place like that. Forgotten probably the most important symbols of that ideology which now back to life.

The mysterious ancient slavic god statue, the church, the killer of polish president - Konin parish church and famous Konin Pillar , where story of polish assassin of president begin- Konin Pillar and parish church

Eligiusz Niewiadomski was polish painter
who in  politcal protest killed the first polish president - Gabriel Narutowicz.Case have never been clarified to the end, which born many speculation. Niewiadomski was officially recognized as a madman. However we don't know that he only played madman or was. To this day, many theories believe that the murder was ordered. It is amazing that a well-paid painter decided to do something like that.His greatest masterpiece is possible to find in the parish church in Konin.He made all frescos.  That case was in Poland something like case of John Fitzgerald Kennedy murder, many years ago in USA. Why? Who? On whose behalf? to this day is many questions without the answer. Parish church in Konin has a lot mysteries.

That beautiful church has own secrets.

 

 

 

                  


In front of the parish church in Konin is a statue. The old sculpture resembles the figure of a man whose hand was touched.We can say that it is a man just with head.  This is a Konin Pillar. Probably the oldest road sign in Europe. Everything tell us that orginally a column was the statue of a slavic ancient god and the place where stands was ancient pagan's santuary. When came christianity, the statue was transformed into a milestone.


 

 

 

The pillar is located in an equal distance between Calisia (the oldest polish city, known even in roman empire historical books) and Kruszwica. Interesting is as well note on the pillar. It comes from the same time that romanesque cross which is placed in the walls of the church and is perfectly located in opposite to the statue.

Penitential cross ... thats sure but if so, who did penance and for what?

 It could not be anything unimportant, that crosses were not funded for nothing.

Is possible that it was a form of education of the population which showed the victory of the new faith over the old. One is certain, it is the only such type of monument in Poland. Behind the pillar is the parish church. It is the oldest church in Konin and very richly decorated. The painter, who later became famous as the assassin of the first polish president, Gabriel Narutowicz, made the renovation in the 1920s and painted all the frescoes. 

 

 

 

 

 

That pillar is probably the most mysterious monument in Poland

                                            

Grave of Pocahontas aka Rebecca Rolfe- famous Native American princess in Gravesend , UK

 

 

 

Pocahontas, an Indian princess whose name is known by everyone, mostly from fairy tales. Not many people know that this story really happened. Her name was Matoaka, she was the daughter of the paramount chief Powhatan . Durning the very strong winter she repeatedly provided food for new settlers at Jamestown , after John Smith saved, was with him in very close relationship. Perhaps a young teenager too seriously approached acquaintance with John Smith. In January 1609 she warned the settlers,against her own father, who was going to kill them. This decision decided about the princess's rest of life, she must left tribe. This decision decided as well about future of North America. In October 1609, John Smith left for England, where he set out for further adventures. Matoaka survived a nervous breakdown after being told that John Smith was injured and left her. While living in Jamestown she received baptism and met her future husband John Rolfe. Initially, they were just friends. The marriage was a more peaceful treaty rather than a relationship with great love. Then Powhatan gave the part of his  land officially to the Europeans, it was the unique peaceful handover of the land with the treaty.Then Powhatan gave the part of his  land officially to the Europeans, it was the unique peaceful handover of the land with the treaty by Native Americans .

 

 

 

Although many testify that John Rolfe loved his wife from the beginning. Matoaka loved him after some time. Thanks to his wife John Rolfe, established his tobacco plant -Varina Farms. He soon became a wealthy and influential man in America and England. In 1615, their son Thomas was born. In 1616 she went to England with her husband to fight for Indian rights to their own lands. She met with King James I. Outside, she was called as an "Indian princess"but in fact treated more as an exotic toy. When she and her husband settled in his residence in Norfolk, John Smith visited her. According to legend, the woman did not accept his ambiguous proposals and sent him off. Finally, she told him that in life did not meet the bigger liar than his nation. Over time, the princess has become a problem which demanding too much. She was fighting for the rights of the Indians to the end. King James, he made another problem, which he did not know how to withdraw. Powhatan got the tittle of the prince, the Indians saw it as a sign that they would be treated equally. James thought it was only a title. This fact supposedly did not like the court, people whispered about his lie. Rebecca Rolfe died before her return to America, for blackpox or poison. To poison , may inadvertently contribute John Smith himself, who wrote many letters to the Queen Anna , about the princess and her position in New Lands.''Love is a gift to us and Christianity might turn to ... scorn and fury', and England could lose the chance to rightly have a Kingdom. by means of her'' - he wrote.This letter could also  contributed to the death of the princess.

 

 

 

 

Matoaka did not return to America, she was buried at the church in Gravesend. Her husband never returned to England. A statue of a princess by a church, is a copy of a monument from Jamestown. In 2006, the place of her rest for the first time visited the Native Americans, who celebrated their ceremony. Her descanant still alive. John Rolfe sworn after her death that : he would never return to England again. He kept his word.

International site about place : http://www.visitgravesend.co.uk/

Vikings, Celts and Slavic and breeding of the wild horse. Magic of Biskupin

 

 

 

 

 

Poland nearby Gniezno, small town called Biskupin. People have always been here from the older part of Stone Age to the early Middle Ages. There were Celts , Slavs and even Vikings. It is possible that the  ancient Romans bought here amber. The wooden reconstructed cottage , has its own  annual festival of ancient cultures which, inhabited this city, every year. In contrast to Calisia, the oldest city in Poland, written in Roman documents Biskupin is definitely larger. Still not many foreigners known about that place . A wooden ancient city was once on a lake island. Geological processes caused the lake to muddy and transform its parts into a swamp and changed the island into a peninsula. 

The settlement in Biskupin is associated with the so-called Lusatian culture - this concept covers different ethnic groups: Germans, Slavs, Illyrians, but it is a great simplification, because in Biskupin, traces of the presence of Celts, Scythians, Huns and even Vikings have also been found. 

In fact, it is impossible to establish that Biskupin belongs to a specific people, it is a consequence of the Migration of Peoples, and also the fact that, unlike other settlements, the city itself survived the turmoil and only its inhabitants changed. Locals have been finding antique items here for a long time, often unaware of them values. In 1933, as a result of melioration works, the level of the lake lowered, and the remains of the fortifications of an ancient settlement emerged above the water table. During the war, archaeological research was carried out here by a special SS-44 unit created exclusively to search for valuable archaeological artifacts. It was they who searched for the Chalice of Christ - the Holy Grail, the aim of the research was to confirm the Pan-German character of the object, which they wanted to use to confirm Poland's belonging to Germany. The Germans did not find such evidence, so they decided to backfill a large part of the settlement with earth and peat, making the finds found before the war not suitable for re-exhibition. Today we can  see just 3/4 of the town. In 1994, the city was recognized as a monument to Polish history. Historians often compare it to Swiss pile settlements. 

 

Beehives

Houses standing in a row, had common gable walls. They were rectangular, or trapezoid shaped to fit the street. There were two rooms inside. Domestic animals lived with people and the central place occupied the hearth. Interesting also is left by the former inhabitants dolmen. In Poland is very hardly to finds any such of that things. It's proof of the Celts presence.The wheel with the cross at the top of the gate has no connection with Christian or Nazi culture. It is an old pagan symbol of the sun and the universe. 

 There is also a barn stud of polish pony also known as konik polski. This wild very rare horse is a direct descendant of ancient mysterious tarpan. Tarpan inhabited these forests as a forest animal. His story ended mainly through domestication and exile. These horses were reproduced, among others, from breeds such as Horse from Dulmen.Their descendants run through the forests of Białowieża and Bulgaria.

Biskupin further shows another amazing treasures and archeological research shows that it was an important city in that part of world. Biskupin is located on the road between Gniezno and Gąsawa.

In Gąsawa, we should stopping near equestrian statue visible far away. Although  style  of that statue is a matter of taste This is a historic place. Here Leszek Biały  the polish prince of the Piast dynasty was assassinated. The prince was murdered on behalf of the famous lord of Gdansk - Świętopełk.

 

International site about place : http://www.biskupin.pl/en/

Triglav - slavic god

Since long time , Polish Pony (Konik polski) are breeding here

Dolmen

Gąsawa

Poland, First capital of the country- Gniezno

.Gniezno, most foreign tourists visit Poznan, thinking that it is the first capital of Poland. In fact, it was Gniezno in official documents, despite the fact that the manor was mostly housed in Poznań.

 For this reason, Gniezno is a little-forgotten place on the trail of foreign tourists. The Gothic cathedral of Gniezno is one of the three oldest churches in Poland, next to Wroclaw and Poznan. Here you will find the famous ''Gniezno doors'', a world-class monument. The richly decorated bronze doors tell the story of St. Wojciech, also known as Adalbert of Prague. Patron of the Czech Republic and Poland. He was murdered during the mission, partly at his request because he was a difficult man and both the Czech and Polish kings wanted to get rid of him.
Gniezno, as well as Prague, have his relics.

This is the seat of the Polish Primate, so it's possible to call the city a'' capital of the Polish Church ''.In the cathedral there is also a royal chapel with a legendary Holy Cross, founded by the first king of Poland, Boleslaus Chrobry. Here, the kings of Poland prayed before going to war. According to legend, the cross was bleeding when danger came to the country.

 

 

The interior of the cathedral is a mixture of gothic style, called "polish gothic," and baroque. The Polish Gothic is definitely different from the gothic style known in the world, for instance, because of the use of material. Buildings are also smaller and have smaller windows.

 

In Gniezno, there is also a museum of the beginnings of the Polish state. It is an interesting collection of monuments of the Piast dynasty, but there is one problem. No one predicted that socialism would collapse and more cars would appear on the roads. You can dream about parking, which is discouraging on a busy street.

International site about the place: (any just polish)
http://www.archidiecezja.pl/parafie/sanktuaria/gniezno_-_katedra_.html

　



King's chapel with famous Holy Cross

Adalbert's reliquary

Paris Ile de la Cite - where Jaques d'Molay -last Grand Master of Templar- died

Jaques d'Molay the last Grand Master of templars, a bout this man world created a lot of legends. One of the most famous is these  in which the Last Grand Master of the order, took treasures of the Temple of Solomon from Jerusalem to France.It was supposed to be a powerful, incredibly rich treasure. With time, the legends became: Ark of Covenant, Holy Grail, Solomon's Ring, thanks to which he talked with demons and they fulfilled his wishes. The more distant the times were, the more legends were created. On the beginning it was only a wain filled with gold. This myth was a reason of the fall of the templars.
Philip king of France, bakrupt , endured a great loan from the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, which he could not repay.

This is the time when soon will be two popes, including one in Avignon, that man was totaly doll in the hand of  the king of France, but he still carried the word ''pope'', so his word should be counted.

It was a total mess, because if something was not approved by the Vatican, it was going to Avignon. If Avignon did not approve, he was sent to the Vatican. Who will take a smaller bribe, who will give more.For repayment  the loan,king and pope began the persecution of the Jews, thanks to which part of the wealth was taken over to pay off the debt.Like a curse, not only the Templars demand repayment, others also, and the king was in debt everywhere.No one want give more money, his life was to expensive, he was as well compulsive gamblers.

The Pope initially does not want to agree, durning speak at last one knight beat him, at last he decided to declare the Order as '' heretics''. Problem of repayment gone. Machine moved and Jaques d'Molay was burned... As he predicted by burning at the stake, a year later the king and pope died  as well.The question remains whether someone helped them or not. After death of pope Bonifatius VIII, his successor decided to move to Avignon.

 

This is the last work of king Philip, which he did not enjoy for by long time. France finally has a pope only for ''himself''. He liquidated the hated order and no longer has to pay the debt, but in the same moment started the machine, which bring total mess in the church.

 

 

The Parisian island of Ile de la Cite, a statue of Henry IV. We descent down the stairs to the marina its here , just need to turn around. The stones board says: 

''Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Temple Order, was burned at the stake on March 18, 1314.''

When Napoleon Bonaparte enters the throne, he sends papers to the Vatican to prove the Templars innocence and re-open the trial.The papers were in Vatican untouched hundred years until the moment when on papal throne joined John Paul II, the polish pope, a great philosopher, an artist fascinated by the Grail Stories, it was the last case that the Pope dealt with. In 2007, the trial was analyzed. By order of pope Benedict XVI the order was acquitted. Jacques d'Molay became innocent.

There is no reason to doubt it. The Vatican has its own secret service and archaeologists, appointed specifically to study these matters.

Forgotten place, no ...In the evening people come here to light candles and leave flowers.Every year, on the anniversary of death, there are crowds of strange whispering people. This is the place of pilgrimage of all the associations that refer to the traditions of the Templars. Jaques d'Molay , thanks king, in fact became immortal.

Walking place , has own secrets

                             

Old Jewish cemetery , the mysterious place of art and life , Wroclaw (Poland)

 

 

 

Wroclaw is one of the most beautiful Polish cities. At least if we speak about the historic center.

In some places, you can still feel the period of war. It is not surprising that Americans shoot films here, located during World War II. Tom Hanks likes the city; he made the Bridge of Spies here.

 

There is one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Wroclaw. Beautiful cemetery with historic monuments, compared to the famous Warsaw Powązki cemetery. The Jewish Cemetery of Wroclaw is the resting place of many famous people. All Jewish cemeteries in Poland are closed. Reasons don't need to be said. This is the only Jewish cemetery  available for sightseeing for a fee, perhaps thanks to monitoring. However, this did not protect the walls of the cemetery from devastation, although it can be said that it's honorable. It was supposed to be Nazi, but the writer did not know the subject, especially the origin of his prophet, when he wrote: 'Jesus won'.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Jewish and Muslim cemeteries are not visited as often as Christian ones. They are the real resting place where nature does own thing. Tombs are absorbed by nature. You can actually understand the meaning of life here. Once overgrown with bushes and creeping, gravestones, can be the inspiration for many interesting photos. During World War II, the Nazis shot Jews here. It was the most simple method, and the body immediately stayed at the cemetery. At that time, Wroclaw was a German city. In fact, it was, for most of its history, a German city. Founded by the Polish king Boleslaus Chrobry, then lost, it returned to Poland after the Second World War. Wrocław is the famous Festung Breslau, associated with the mysterious Riese Project. If you like the atmosphere of ''gothic novels'', this place is perfect to feel the atmosphere.

 



 

International site about place :any