The Bieszczady Mounains- my little world

The Bieszczady Mountains
- my place in the world
“In the mountains there is all that I love
and every poem is in the beeches,
Always when I return there, the maples take me for their grandson ...”
Today’s world has a lot to offer. However, sometimes it isn’t enough to be fully happy. Everyone
needs the place where they feel relaxed, safe, needed, appreciated and truly loved.
For some people this place is their home with a loving family, for others it could be school with
real friends, but some of us need to be
close to beautiful nature.
The environment in which we live and
people who surround us create this
wonderful place where we can feel
happy and really free.
This place for us is the area of the
Bieszczady Mountains. We love this land
situated on the picturesque River San.
Beautiful views, amazing Solina Lake,
green forests and fresh, unpolluted air
make us happy and lively.
Patrycja Górecka
You must visit our beautiful land and enjoy the natural world with us.
It is a good place to live, relax and get away from everyday problems.
The scent of flowers in meadows, green trees,
birds singing in May. The day begins in the spring,
Let’s go to Połonina…
In my head I hear a humming,
Summer, summer, summer’s coming…
Mary Ann Hoberman
Four seasons
in The Bieszczady Mountains...
When a colourful leaf falls to the ground
Solina Lake is getting ready for sleep.
White frost covered the bare trees,
all the mountains sleep in anticipation…
Klaudia Mucha, Magda Fiejtek, Joanna Krajewska,
Photos by students of our school
Legends are inspiring…
The Lesko Stone is an original monument of
nature, built of sandstone. There are a few legends connected
with this place. I will tell you one of them. It is a bit scary but
maybe true, who knows…?
Long time ago in Glinne, a small village ,situated 3km
from Lesko, a beautiful girl lived with her mother. One day the
old mother asked her daughter to gather some mushrooms. But
the malicious girl was lazy and angrily refused to do it, threw a
basket at mother’s feet, then took a stone and wanted to throw
it at the mother's head. The old woman was so shocked that she
said: "A degenarate doughter you are therefore I curse you!
Change into a stone!". At this very moment the whole girl’s body
magically turned into a great stone and her name was cursed
forever. The giant stone was growing bigger and bigger. The
local people decided to put a cross on the top of the rock and
kept coming to this place to pray for health, peace and blessings
for them and for their children, but the stone didn't stop
growing up. The power of the cursed girl was still growing. People
believed that the stone would grow to touch the sky. They
thought that only priests could stop this phenomenon and
indeed, when priests began to pray, the stone stopped growing.
Finally, they defeated the curse.The cross remained for many
years at the top of the stone.
One day a drunk forester came to this place and shot at
the cross, destroyed and profaned the sacred sign. But the man
paid dearly for what he had done. His hands and arms stiffened forever… And people put a new cross on the top of the stone.
Some years later a new road was built and the rock acquired the name the Lesko Stone. People wanted to exploit stone in this
place and use as a building material but, strangely they couldn't crush the part where the previous cross used to be. And, in
this way, the malicious girl, changed into stone in the legend, has survived to the present day...
If you happen to come here, look carefully… maybe you will recognize the shape of that girl...
Magda Fiejtek
Where does the name come from?
Long time ago the land of the Bieszczady Mountains was uninhabited and unspoiled. The land was ruled by bad Bies.
He was similar to the man from the body form, but bigger and horned. He had also great bat wings.He was angry and jealous
of his land. He did not want to share it with anyone. As an absolute king he didn’t allow anyone to stop in the mountains for
longer time. One day a tribe, led by a young, strong and wise man called San, came here from far away. The wild land
appealed newcomers. So they decided to settle here forever. They built houses and established a village on the largest
river.But Bies could not stand that his kingdom became lively. He was angry and disturbed new inhabitants as much as only he
could. People began to complain, but San was enchanted by the beauty of this land. He loved it and decided to preserve and
encouraged others not to flee.
When Bies realized that he wouldn’t be able to beat the hard men alone, he created his helpers - Czads.
They were grotesque and a bit funny.
They tried to cause harm to people. They destroyed everything that was sown, frightened children… One day, when
San was working in woods, he heard a scream and then silent moans coming out from under the heavy trunk. It was scream of
a Czad begging for his life. Good San freed Czad. After that action all Czads changed their attitude towards people. They
wanted to become good ghosts and learned how to help people.
Unfortunately, bad Bies found out about betrayal of his assistants. From that moment he wanted to kill them all, but
he didn’t managed to do it. San, on the other hand, wanted to overcome bad Bies. So one day they started to fight and both
sank in a nearby river….and saved his people from Bies. After that event the settlers named the river “ SAN” to salute their
leader for his courage and determination. And Czads stayed with people and were their faithful helpers. And the fact is
that we can meet Czads here even today. They live on old trees and watch the beauty of the Bieszczady Mountains.
So keep your eyes open ...
Text by Adriana Wojtanowska, photograph by Joanna Krajewska
Bies, czads, angels and witches...
Each piece of land would seem empty without people who inhabit it and create
the atmosphere. We are lucky because here , in the Bieszczady Mountains , there are
a lot of wonderful people who live with real passion.
One of them is Zdzisław Pękalski. He is a person of different interests, but
above all, he deals with painting and sculpture. But he is not just a typical artist busy with his work.
He is also happy to meet students, share his passion and tell them about his work, local history and
traditions. I visited him to find out about his work and how it all began.
Karolina: Good afternoon! I would like to ask
you a few questions regarding your work.
Z. Pękalski: Hello, please do ask.
K: When did you start painting and carving?
Z. P: When I was little I noticed that I had talent
and creation came to me with ease. I started to meet
friends who were real artists, in Przemysl. I went to
studio, where I learned a lot. The rest I learned at
the Institute of Artistic Education in Przemysl.
K : What is your inspiration for your wonderful
paintings and sculptures?
Z. P : The Bieszczady Mountains region, full
legends, about Bies and Czads, and various saints. Particularly forests and woods all the time
give me a lot of ideas. I paint on different, sometimes unusual, pieces of wood. So, I paint on
pig's bowls and groom floorboards. I also bring boards found in Solina Lake and partly burnt
chunks of wood from bonfires.
Therefore, every picture, every sculpture has its own story.
K: Is your work only just your inner duty, or also your pleasure?
Z. P: It is my passion, I have a lot of pleasure, when I discover something new in wood.
In addition, I have many orders, so I also sell my works.
K: How much time do you spend on your work?
Z. P: Because I'm retired I have a lot of time and I can spend even all days on creating.
So, I’m never bored.
K: Where do you show your work?
Z. P: I have my own art gallery in Hoczew, in my house. This gallery is open for people and
students who are interested in my works. Every year, I also show them in the gallery
"Synagogue" in Lesko and other galleries in Poland.
K. Thanks you very much for a nice conversation, have a good day:)
Karolina Gnap
Editors: Magdalena Fiejtek, Karolina Gnap,
Patrycja Górecka, Joanna Krajewska, Klaudia Mucha, Adriana Wojtanowska
Advice: Grażyna Kwaśniewicz, Małgorzata Pelc
Photos by the editors and other students of LO Lesko,
Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. gen. Władysława Andersa w Lesku
38-600 Lesko, ul. Piłsudskiego 5; phone: tel.: +48 13 469 6518 ; e-mail : liceum@lo.lesko.pl