Polish Spisz for everyone [#13] - Nowa Biała

Nowa Biała is a phenomenon on the map of Poland. As the only village in Polish Spisz, it lies on the left bank of the Białka River, the border river of this region. "Poland" also belonged to Hungary relatively recently, as late as 1918. What other surprises does this village hold?

The spatial layout of Nowa Biała is certainly interesting. The street-square layout is not often seen today. It is characterised by houses grouped along two streets, in the case of Nowa Biała – on the east-west axis. Behind them, there are agricultural buildings, stables, and barns arranged in perpendicular lines.

The chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, situated outside the village, is intriguing as it has had Lutheran episodes in its history, as well as the church built in the centre of the village, which is an ideal example of Spisz Baroque. For those who decide to visit this Spisz village on a Sunday, participating in the Mass conducted in Slovak may be an attraction. For the locals, this is nothing unusual, as Slovak is the second language of the residents, which even children use in school.

If visual impressions are more important than auditory ones, an ideal option will be a trip to the nearby gorge of the Białka River, where a mammoth tusk shaped like a boomerang and other traces of human presence from 23 thousand years ago were discovered in the Obłazowa Cave. But that’s probably not surprising either. After all, this is Nowa Biała – the village of surprises.

 

Photographs and text by - Bogusława Bandyk