The Central Cemetery is a communal cemetery in Sanok, Poland. The necropolis comprises multiple sections, beginning with the oldest at Jan Matejko Street, followed by a designed area at . Both sections are listed in the Registry of Cultural Property in Sanok. Over time, the cemetery expanded to include adjacent areas, including two soldiers' quarters, forming the current necropolis. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship.
The original cemetery at what is now Jan Matejko Street, no longer in use, was established following a decree by Emperor Joseph II on 11 December 1783, issued by the Galician Gubernium on 21 January 1784, mandating burials outside urban areas. Previously, Sanok's cemeteries were located in the city center: a Roman Catholic cemetery around the former at the current St. Michael's Square, near by the bank building at 4 Tadeusz Koà Âciuszko Street and the Ramerówka townhouse, and Greek Catholic cemeteries near Zamkowa Street by the local cathedral and the former at the present John III Sobieski Street, where the and the building at 2 Teofil Lenartowicz Street are located. In the 1930s, during the Second Polish Republic, remains found during excavations at the former Catholic cemetery on Gregory of Sanok Street were transferred to the cemetery at Rymanowska Street. Some old burials at this cemetery are also associated with the nearby .
No precise opening date for the cemetery is documented, but burials likely began in the 1790s or early 1800s. The cemetery appears on a Sanok map from 1852. According to historian , the cemetery was established in 1857 on land purchased from Piotr Czyà ¼ewski by the Austro-Hungarian district authority. The purchase costs were borne by local Roman and Greek Catholic parishes. Income from burial plot sales supported the construction of the local Roman Catholic parish church. The cemetery was managed by the parish committee.
On 3 April 1867, the Sanok City Council, led by Father , pastor of the Parish of the Transfiguration, initiated plans for a new cemetery. Father Czaszyà Âski chaired a committee that included councilors Michaà  Solski, Ignacy Kahane, , Szymon Drewià Âski, and non-councilor Dr. . The committee identified a parcel west of the city owned by landowner . Despite these efforts, the plan was not finalized. On 27 July 1882, the City Council discussed establishing a new Catholic cemetery or expanding the existing one, appointing a committee with Father Czaszyà Âski, , , Jan Kupczyk, and . On 14 December 1882, the council decided to acquire land from Piotr Czyà ¼ewski to expand the cemetery.
The cemetery served Christians of Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations, and after the 1784 decree, also Greek Catholics, previously buried at the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the city center. On 20 May 1869, the City Council approved fencing the municipal cemetery. In the mid-1880s, the cemetery, managed by the Roman Catholic parish, faced criticism for chaotic burial practices, lack of fencing and pathways, and its location on marshy terrain. On 12 May 1887, councilor proposed fencing the cemetery with a picket fence for security reasons. A 1891 press report highlighted the cemetery's neglected state. The cemetery at Jan Matejko Street was closed on 1 December 1895. On 5 October 1905, Sanok mayor issued a notice urging residents and others to maintain deteriorating tombstones at the old Catholic cemetery within one year, after which damaged monuments would be removed.
In the late 20th century, Ewa à Ânieà ¼yà Âska-Stolot and Franciszek Stolot identified the tombstone of Antoni Lenik, an imperial-royal financial councilor who died in 1866 at age 52, as one of the oldest surviving monuments. The section at Jan Matejko Street spans 1.57 hectares and has an irregular quadrilateral shape. Its layout resembles a fan, with pathways extending westward, northwest, and northward from the entrance at the southeastern corner on Roman Dmowski Street.
The creation of a new cemetery may have been driven by the need to expand the existing necropolis or to establish a dedicated Roman Catholic cemetery. On 8 June 1887, the City Council voted to establish a new necropolis for Christian residents, funded by municipal resources, with costs to be offset by future burial fees. A committee comprising , , and Józef Rynczarski was appointed to oversee the purchase and development of the new cemetery. On 21 January 1890, the Sanok magistrate proposed acquiring 2.5 morgs of land from Józef Lisowski. On 26 August 1890, a new committee, including Dr. , Father , and Paweà  Hydzik, was tasked with assessing the suitability of land owned by Franciszka Lisowska (plots 85/1, 86/1, 87/1).
The city acquired land from , approximately 1.3 km from the Market Square. On 15 March 1894, the City Council approved the purchase of three morgs of land in Posada Sanocka or Dàbrówka Polska from Józefa Rylska for 5,000 PLN. On 29 October 1894, Mayor reported the purchase of plot 1186 from Józefa Rylska for 5,000 PLN. This plot, identified on an 1852 map as "à Ârednie pole" (Middle Field), formed the basis for the new cemetery.
City architect designed the communal cemetery and a Gothic Revival funeral chapel. His design, published in 1896 in ', served as a model for cemetery planning in Galicia. The cemetery, covering 1.54 hectares at Rymanowska Street, was rectangular and divided into four quarters: I (southwest), II (southeast), III (northwest), and IV (northeast). Four main pathways converged at the center, where a Gothic Revival chapel was built for Józefa Habermann (died 2 May 1895) and her family, approved by city authorities for a 250 PLN perpetual endowment. Beksià Âski's plan allocated 2,842 burial plots: 4 for distinguished individuals, 172 permanent masonry graves, 436 permanent standard graves, and 2,230 temporary graves (including 415 for the poor). Plots along the main pathways were reserved for prominent citizens, with four central plots around the chapel, while the periphery was designated for the poor.
By July 1895, the cemetery at Rymanowska Street was equipped with a gate, fencing, hedgerows, pathways, drainage ditches, leveled terrain, and a roofed chapel. On 24 October 1895, the City Council set fees, established regulations, and appointed city gardener Józef Ursa as gravedigger. The cemetery was consecrated on All Souls' Day, 2 November 1895, in the presence of City Council members, Roman and Greek Catholic clergy, and residents. The 1898 budget allocated 600 PLN for a mortuary building. On 11 November 1895, an adjacent western section for residents of and â then outside city limits â was consecrated, with trees provided by . Trees were planted along the pathways in mid-1896.
With the opening of the new cemetery at Rymanowska Street and another at Posada Olchowska, the Jan Matejko Street cemetery was closed on 1 December 1895. On 24 September 1896, councilor Dr. raised concerns about tombstones facing away from pathways, contrary to proper alignment.
The cemetery served Roman and Greek Catholic burials. Beksià Âski's design planned for closure after 50 years, in 1946. In 1931, the cemetery building was located at 46 Rymanowska Street. The total area, per Beksià Âski's design, is 2.49 hectares. Historian noted that one of the oldest surviving tombstones is that of Józef Hellebrand, a retired forest manager who died on 30 November 1898 at age 82. Two entrances, including a main gate leading to the old chapel, were established from Rymanowska Street.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a cemetery fund existed, and grave numbers were marked on posts. At that time, on All Saints' Day, 1 November, members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul held collections at both the old cemetery (J. Matejko Street) and the new one (Rymanowska Street). In the second half of the 20th century, on All Saints' Day, 1 November, a solemn Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated by the historic chapel in the cemetery.
Over time, the cemetery area was expanded by incorporating adjacent land. After burial space was exhausted at the old cemetery on Rymanowska Street, a special cemetery commission in 1921 recommended continuing interments at the old cemetery on Matejko Street, suggesting the purchase of adjacent plots. A resolution by the City Council on 22 August 1922 approved exchanging other land to the owners of the plots adjoining the old cemetery on Matejko Street. In modern times, the expansion proceeded westward from the original cemetery areas along Matejko and Rymanowska streets, and land between the two parts was also incorporated, resulting in a unified cemetery area encompassing both existing and newly added grounds. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, burials took place in the so-called "new section" of the Matejko Street cemetery in an "Avenue of the Meritorious", where individuals associated with the Polish People's Republic regime were laid to rest. In the early 1980s, efforts were undertaken to integrate the burial areas on and around Jan Matejko Street. Eventually, the Central Cemetery came to encompass the area bounded by the streets Rymanowska, Roman Dmowski, Kiczury, GÃ Âogowa, and DÃÂ browiecka. The entire cemetery area is crossed by Jan Brzechwa Street. On the side of GÃ Âogowa Street, the Central Cemetery borders the new Jewish cemetery. At the center of the current cemetery grounds stands a municipal funeral home, whose construction began in 1988. The interior polychromes were created by . Also in 1988, proposed the renovation and marking of graves belonging to individuals meritorious to the city.
Human remains uncovered between 1935 and 1936 at the site of the former were buried at the cemetery. During archaeological work on Zamkowa Street near the local Orthodox church, human remains â likely from a 17th-century cemetery â were also discovered and subsequently transferred to the Sanok cemetery.
In July 1987, the cemetery was the site of break-ins into some of its oldest burial crypts and coffins, which were looted and robbed. Between late 1994 and early 1995, several acts of vandalism occurred at the cemetery, resulting in damage to gravestones, the Insurgents Cross, and military burial plots. In 2000, a new fence was erected along Rymanowska Street, 500 juniper shrubs were planted, and several pathways were renovated. In the early 21st century, two columbarium walls were built along the cemetery's western edge, parallel to Roman Dmowski Street, designed to house cremation urns (the first wall includes 80 niches). By resolution of 21 July 2011, the Sanok City Council introduced the Regulations for Municipal Cemeteries located within Gmina Sanok.
As of 1 August 2012, vehicular traffic through the cemetery along Jan Brzechwa Street, between its junctions with Roman Dmowski and with DÃÂ browiecka and GÃ Âogowa streets, was prohibited by city authorities for legal and safety reasons. The cemetery remains accessible at all hours via pedestrian gates. In spring and summer 2014, renovation and modernization works were carried out, including the construction of a parking lot, the beginning of a fence around the Polish soldiers' burial section, and conservation works. Later in 2014, the parking lot was completed, the interior of the funeral chapel was renovated and modernized, two cemetery alleys were asphalted, and a second columbarium wall was built, providing 120 burial niches accessible from both sides. Until 2015, the cemetery was managed by a private funeral company. On 1 May 2017, the Sanok Municipal Housing Management Company took over administration on behalf of the City of Sanok.
The total area of the Central Cemetery is just under 8 hectares (79,300 mò). As of 2019, the cemetery plan identifies six zones:
In 1991, the newly established Society for the Development and Beautification of the City of Sanok announced a fundraising campaign to preserve historic tombstones. On All Saints' Day (1 November) and All Souls' Day (2 November), fundraising collections are held at the Central Cemetery by the Association for the Care of Old Cemeteries in Sanok and the Saint Brother Albert Aid Society â Sanok Branch. Members of the Sanok Region Scouting Troop, named after Father Scoutmaster Zdzisà Âaw Peszkowski, have taken responsibility for maintaining several graves of soldiers and scouts.
After the end of World War II, a military cemetery was established in the northern part of the old Rymanowska Street section, consisting of two quarters: one for Polish soldiers and one for Red Army soldiers, with a total area of 1,650 mò. In 1958, the area was enclosed with a hedge, and the war graves were renovated by city authorities.
Historically, the cemetery contained graves of Austrian army soldiers. As of June 1914, there were graves of 34 officers and 67 soldiers. Subsequently, during World War I, 8,700 soldiers who perished were buried at the Sanok cemetery (designated as No. XIV in Austro-Hungarian nomenclature). Across the entire Sanok District, 12,247 soldiers were buried. After Poland's regained independence in 1918, in the 1920s, during the Second Polish Republic, this was one of three military cemeteries within the city of Sanok, covering an area of three-quarters of a Morgen and enclosed by a wooden fence. At that time, approximately 9,000 graves of those who died between 1914 and 1918 were estimated to exist, marked by wooden crosses, and their condition was deemed poor. A second military cemetery, located within the municipal cemetery, covered 50 mò with an unknown number of burials. This area, surrounded by concrete, featured three masonry monuments, one erected by Russians and another by Hungarians. By 1930, the military cemetery contained fallen soldiers from the Austrian and Russian armies, as well as Italians who died in captivity. Until then, the cemetery was maintained by Austrian, Russian, and later Polish authorities.
After 1945, a monument with an inscription in Polish and German, "Mass grave of the 32nd Regiment", was present, identifying "Laszlo Garganyi" and topped with a crown. A preserved postcard indicates the existence of a grave for four Hungarian honvéd soldiers who died suddenly. Later, the Austrian military graves were removed, likely after World War II, and new graves were established in their place.
The cemetery includes a quarter for soldiers and officers of the Polish Armed Forces who died in battles for liberation between 1918 and 1948, including the PolishâÂÂUkrainian War (1918âÂÂ1919), the PolishâÂÂSoviet War (1919âÂÂ1920), the Polish Defensive War of 1939, and conflicts with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (1944âÂÂ1948). According to a 1920s description, the third military cemetery, for those who fell in wars from 1918, was located north of the second cemetery (with the three monuments). It contained approximately 300 graves, marked by wooden crosses, most of which were deteriorated, and was enclosed by wire. In the 1930s, Captain Father of the military parish of Christ the King, established at the stationed in Sanok, organized the quarter for soldiers who died between 1918 and 1920. Initially, there were 105 graves. The quarter includes burials of soldiers from the 2nd Podhale Rifle Regiment, as well as those who fought with the , the Internal Security Corps, and the Border Protection Forces. Among those buried are:
Additionally, four graves belong to Polish Armed Forces soldiers who died tragically in later years of the Polish People's Republic. The quarter also includes soldiers who lived long after World War II, buried in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s:
In 1958, approximately 50 victims of a mass execution by Germans in December 1943 in Babica near Rzeszów were reinterred in the quarter after exhumation.
The quarter contains 154 individual graves, two mass graves (one in the northwest corner with 10 victims), and one symbolic mass grave with a monument. The monument features a vertical flag of Poland with an eagle at the top. It bears a Virtuti Militari cross and a plaque inscribed: "In homage to the fallen. Sanok community". Designed by Edmund Królicki and overseen by Tadeusz Wilk, the monument was completed before 1 November 1959. The quarter was surrounded by a hedge for many years. Between 1980 and 1983, renovations included installing uniform concrete crosses with white marble identification plaques on each grave.
Between 2011 and 2012, the graves were renovated, including repainting. In 2013, plans were made to fence the quarter. In 2014, the western half of the surrounding hedge was replaced with fencing.
After the outbreak of World War II, soldiers of the Wehrmacht who fell during the September Campaign of 1939 were buried at the Rymanowska Street cemetery. Their remains were exhumed in 1995 and reinterred at the military cemetery in Przemyà Âl, consecrated on 7 October 1995.
In the western part of the Central Cemetery lies the Red Army soldiers' quarter, established on the site of a former Austrian soldiers' cemetery, which was leveled for this purpose. Exhumations of Red Army soldiers' remains across the Rzeszów Voivodeship were conducted by a special expedition group from the Ministry of Municipal Economy, with the permanent military cemetery in Sanok nearing completion by late 1953. The quarter contains soldiers who died in 1944 during battles on the Eastern Front for the so-called liberation of the Sanok Land. The deceased were from the 101st Army Corps of the 38th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Initially, Red Army soldiers were buried in Sanok's city center on the eastern slope of Adam Mickiewicz Park and elsewhere in Sanok County, with their remains later exhumed by the Municipal Economy Enterprise and transferred to the cemetery quarter. Later sources date the cemetery's establishment to 1951âÂÂ1953, during which exhumations occurred.
A total of 2,969 soldiers were buried in the quarter. Over time, individual plaques commemorating specific soldiers were added, with inscriptions in Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, and Georgian. Buried soldiers include Majors and , Captains and , Senior Lieutenant , and .
A main avenue, lined with chestnut trees, leads from the gate to a commemorative obelisk with a red star at its center, measuring 4 m x 4 m = 16 mò at the base. During the Polish People's Republic, the graves were maintained by Sanok scouts and the city's PolishâÂÂSoviet Friendship Society branch. Until the 1980s, school students cleaned the graves before the October Revolution holiday (7 November). In 2012, six mass graves in the quarter were renovated.
Originally, a monument titled "Monument to Those Fallen in the National Struggles of 1830âÂÂ31 and 1863" was planned shortly after the establishment of the cemetery on Rymanowska Street in 1896. The monument, designed by engineer Wà Âadysà Âaw Beksià Âski, was to consist of an oak cross placed on a mound of stone boulders, featuring a marble plaque for commemoration and surrounded by columns connected by a chain. It was intended to be located in one of four free plots reserved for distinguished individuals in the central part of the new cemetery.
The current oak Insurgents Cross is situated in the northwest corner of the old cemetery section on Rymanowska Street. Erected in 1923 by Sanok scouts and students of the Queen Sophia State Gymnasium, including Fritz Hotze, , Tadeusz Riedrich, and , it commemorates Polish independence uprisings. A plaque on the cross reads: "To the Heroes of 1831/63, Scouts 1923", crafted at the Sanok Wagon Factory. Scouts, including Zdzisà Âaw Peszkowski, took their Scout Promise at the cross. In 1958, the symbolic monument was renovated by city authorities. In 1980, a new plaque was added to the stone base, inscribed: "To the Heroes of Polish Uprisings 1980". On 11 November 1996, a new cross was consecrated, incorporating the original 1923 metal plaque, updated to read: "To the Heroes of 1831/63, Scouts 1923 1996", funded by Sanok native and then Chief Scout of Poland, Ryszard Pacà Âawski. Additionally, a plaque on the vertical beam reads: "Ernest Bauman, 1831 Insurgent, Knight of Virtuti Militari, Poznaà  Cavalry Regiment". The monument is recognized as a historic object and is legally protected.
Along the main avenue leading from Rymanowska Street to the original cemetery chapel are two mass graves. The first is the Mausoleum of World War II Victims, established in autumn 1948. This tomb contains the ashes of victims from Sanok and Sanok Land, including those who fought on World War II fronts, resistance members, prisoners of Nazi concentration camps, and others murdered. The monument was initiated by the Sanok branch of the Polish Association of Former Political Prisoners of Nazi Prisons and Concentration Camps, with planning beginning in 1946. Designed by Stanisà Âaw Ryniak, an architect and former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner (the first Polish inmate, number 31), the mausoleum resembles a camp crematorium with a front opening and an obelisk resembling a chimney. The main plaque reads: They sacrificed blood, suffering, and life for the Homeland in World War II. Honor their memory". Inside, a bronze urn, crafted by association members employed at the Sanok Wagon Factory, holds soil from the Death Wall at Auschwitz concentration camp and other execution sites, including Gross-Rosen, Majdanek, , Hanusiska Forest, Falejówka, , Olchowce, and others, symbolically commemorating victims' remains.
Over the years, a registry of fallen and murdered individuals from Sanok Land was compiled, finalized in the 1950s, with plans to engrave their names on bronze plaques for the mausoleum's walls. After delays, 12 plaques listing victims' names were installed on the side walls. Initially, 560 identities were listed, later updated to 576. The Sanok County branch of the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy completed the project, renovating the mausoleum before installing the Kraków-made plaques. The unveiling ceremony occurred in August 1962 during Sanok's 800th anniversary celebrations. Previously, tin plaques with victims' names were used.
The mausoleum is colloquially known as the "Mausoleum of Auschwitz Victims" or "Auschwitz Victims' Monument". The plaques list World War II victims, including those from German concentration camps, executed by Germans at , Hanusiska Forest, Czarny Las, victims of the Katyn massacre, those who died in the Soviet Union, those murdered by the UPA, and those who fell at Monte Cassino. In 1978, the Sanok Bus Factory, responsible for the monument's maintenance, conducted renovation and conservation work, and students from Maria Skà Âodowska-Curie High School committed to cleaning the site.
The second symbolic mass grave, located just behind the Mausoleum of World War II Victims, commemorates those executed at . In November 1947, ceremonies in Sanok preceded the burial of exhumed remains of victims executed by Germans on 5âÂÂ6 July 1940 on the slope of Gruszka Mountain near Tarnawa Dolna. These were 112 prisoners from , including former Captain , Captain , and , a professor at the Sanok gymnasium. The elongated grave is surrounded by a hedge. The monument, with a base of stacked stones, bears a plaque inscribed: "To the martyrs for freedom and democracy. Mass grave of Poles brutally murdered by Nazi thugs during the occupation of Sanok County from September 1939 to June 1944. Honor your memory". Atop the pedestal is a falcon sculpture by , originally intended in 1939 for the Sanok branch of the SokÃ³à  movement building. In 2012, the grave was renovated, and the falcon sculpture was repainted. In mid-2013, two plaques listing the names of those executed at Gruszka Mountain were added to the monument's sides.
The Eastern Golgotha Cross monument commemorates victims of the Katyn massacre from Sanok and Sanok Land. Located in the western part of the cemetery near the mortuary, it was initiated by Father Zdzisà Âaw Peszkowski. The central element is the Cross of Memory for the Victims of the Polish Eastern Golgotha, consecrated on 10 November 2008.
On 18 April 2009, as part of the "Katyn⦠We Remember"/"Katyn⦠Save from Oblivion" campaign, 21 Memory Oaks were planted around the cross in the so-called Katyn Alley, honoring Katyn massacre victims born in or connected to Sanok. On the second anniversary of Father Peszkowski's death, 8 October 2009, three additional Memory Oaks were planted. On the fifth anniversary, 8 October 2012, two more were added. In total, 26 officers and officials are commemorated. Research up to 2010 estimates over 60 individuals from Sanok and Sanok Land perished in the Katyn massacre. Scoutmaster was a co-initiator of the Eastern Golgotha monument and the planting of Memory Oaks.
The cemetery features modernist funerary art. Numerous tombstones, both individual and family tombs, are recognized as historic and legally protected. In 1978, due to the absence of a local conservator, a city group including (director of the Sanok Historical Museum), (city artist), and Krystyna Kilar (museum guide) inventoried 43 tombstones (5 in the Matejko Street section and 38 in the Rymanowska Street section), identifying them as historically valuable and proposing their preservation. On 20 December 1982, the voivodeship conservator of monuments registered 65 objects: 49 in the Rymanowska Street section (decision A-31) and 16 in the Matejko Street section (decision A-32), confirmed on 20 May 2009 by the Przemyà Âl Voivodeship Office for Monument Protection. In 2014, Sanok's municipal registry of monuments, published in 2015, listed 49 tombstones in the Rymanowska Street section and 16 in the Matejko Street section. This was reaffirmed in 2018.
Some historic tombstones have lost their original appearance. Registered tombstones include those crafted in Lviv workshops.
Since 2010, the Association for the Care of Old Cemeteries in Sanok, established on 16 January 2009 with Ewa Filip as president, has undertaken conservation and restoration of tombstones. The first restored was tombstone in 2010. Subsequent restorations included Wà Âadysà Âaw Niedà ºwiecki and Maryan Truszkowski in 2011, the Heinrich family in 2012, Amalia Celestyna à Âwitalska in 2013, in 2015, and in 2016.
List of tombstones registered as monuments:
Additionally, the old cemetery chapel on Rymanowska Street was entered into the municipal register of monuments of the city of Sanok in 2014. Originally, since 1895, it served as the family burial chapel of the Habermann family, in which the following family members were buried: Józefa Habermann (died 1895), Antoni Habermann de Haberfeld (died 1916), Leopold Habermann (died 1917), Franciszka Habermann de Haberfeld Owsiany (died 1920), and Robert Habermann (died 1943).
The original tombstone of Józio and Staà  Borczyk no longer exists. Both deceased are mentioned in the inscription on tomb, which is located in the previous location of the historic tombstone.
People awarded the Virtuti Militari Order who were buried at the Central Cemetery in Sanok:
In 1932, another Knight of the Virtuti Militari Order, , was buried in the cemetery, but his remains were later transferred to the PowÃÂ zki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.