My Polish Alphabet: B for Biskupin

Another "B" in my Polish Alphabet series.

 

Lake Biskupin

 

Biskupin is an archeological site and history reserve situated on Lake Biskupin, about 56 miles from Poznań. In 1933, the remains of a Bronze Age settlement were discovered there. A year later, archeological works started at the site. The remains appeared to be a fort/defensive settlement from the Bronze/Iron Age - an example of the Lusatian Culture. The fort, surrounded by a wooden palisade with a gate, consisted of 106 houses. Between the houses, there were streets paved with wood. During the decades of excavations, traces of a few settlements of the various time periods were discovered. They were partly reconstructed and nowadays, the site is available for visitors.

We have been there as well. The Museum site is so large that walking around and visiting the area took us four hours. In the end, our legs were not very much willing to cooperate, but it all was worth our effort. It is one of those "one-of-a-kind" places. During the school year, Biskupin is full of school groups. Since we were there in the summer, we could enjoy our walk without crowds around us.

The Biskupin site sections which we have visited

 

Traces of hunter-gatherers camps constructed 10,000 years ago - this part of the museum site presents reconstructed huts made of cane, an outside hearth, and an original ancient boat made of wood.

 

An ancestor (?) met at the hunter-gatherers camp site

 

Not far from that, a settlement of the first farmers was discovered (from 6,000 years ago). They lived in pine longhouses. Each of the houses had about 12 inhabitants who occupied two chambers. In a bigger chamber, there was an inside hearth. 

 

The longhouse looked similar to the ones built by the Vikings

 

The fort reconstruction - a bridge, gate, parts of the outside wall, breakwater, two rows of huts, and a street.
 

At the fort gate

 

An early medieval village, traces of which were discovered before WW2. The reconstructed part - several houses without windows, with a hearth inside.  

 

The last section of the Biskupin Museum is a wooden Pałuki hut from the 18th/19th century. Pałuki is an ethnographic region in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian and partly in the Greater Poland region. The inside of the hut is not open for visitors. Around the house, you can see a reconstructed well and a bee garden.

Biskupin is recognized by the National Heritage Board of Poland as a National Historic Monument.
 
More about the excavations works and how the original settlements were constructed - in the video below.

 

The museum website: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Biskupinie

PS

There will be one more "B" in My Polish Alphabet", posted soon.