Kazimierz Dolny - uwagi o dziejach rozwoju przestrzennego, problemy ochrony krajobrazu kulturowego : część I

Part I The author, director o f the local museum at Kazimierz Dolny and at the same time municipal conservator of monuments, tells the story o f the town’s development and of the policy to protect its historical monuments and landscape values. In the presently published part I o f this article the author describes the stand of research into the history of the town as well as the various hypotheses concerning its origins and development. He discusses the archeological, historical and architectonic investigations made so far, which at present do not appear sufficient, however, for the formulation o f a conservational policy towards the town. This is followed by remarks on the town planning policy in Kazimierz during the period till 1945. The town’s expansion ended in the 17th century when building development reached the steep slopes o f the Grodarz brook valley and the bank of the Vistula. As a result, the next century brought an increase in the number o f houses, wooden houses of various sizes. There followed also a modification o f the functions of the town — from commercial into handicraft ones, during the 19th century, and into those of a summer resort, at the end o f tha) century. The author describes the destruction of Kazimierz during World War I and the architectonic activities in the inter-war period (J. Koszczyc-Witkiewicz, R. Gutt, К. Siciński) during which certain historical burghers houses were rebuilt and also some new buildings erected (for instance, the post-office near the market place and numerous villas outside the town centre area). After World War II the functions of conservator of Kazimierz Dolny were granted to architect Karol Siciński whom the author calls ,,an epigonus of the Polish conservational school”. In the years 1946—1947 K. Siciński worked out the town’s development plan and a detailed plan of the town centre. The author discusses individual aspects o f these works the keynote o f which was the full reconstruction o f the old buildings on the basis of available iconography and o f the latter’s corroboration found in building structure survivals. There follows a presentation of the realized designs o f K. Siciński to which belong, among others, the reconstruction or construction of some 60 buildings, the laying out of several new streets and the revalorization o f the market place. The activities of this architect have decided the present-day nature o f the township ■—■ a conglomerate o f professional architecture, popular building and splendid monuments. The author concludes by portraying the township which can justly claim a place on the world’s list of cultural treasures. The historical value of Kazimierz consists not only in its outstanding architectural monuments, but also in its entire pattern of wooden and masonry buildings as well as in its location which accounts for the closed-circle atmosphere and picturesque character of the town’s spatial composition. Of great significance in this respect is its environment — the valleys o f the Vistula and the Grodarz brook, the numerous hillsides cut by deep ravines, and the extremely intensive green of the vegetation. In the author’s opinion, conservational protection in Kazimierz should cover, among others, the following features: the skyline, the surrounding landscape, the verdure, the layout of streets and squares, the traditional division into building plots, all architectural monuments, time-honoured sights other than monuments, and the general atmosphere of old times and picturesqueness. According to the author’s announcement, part II of this article will deal with the present functions o f the town and with measures aimed at ensuring modern living conditions to its inhabitants.