CULTURE

The Royal Castle in Warsaw, the Old Town, as well as numerous palaces and manors of the nobility in the region, such as the castles in Ciechanów, Czersk, Iłża, Liw, Pułtusk or Szydłowiec, as well as the palaces in Jabłonna, Opiniogóra, Sterdynia, the palace and park complexes in Chlewiska, Jadwisin and Orońsko or the manors in Żelazowa Wola, Sucha and Stawisko are the remainders of the past of Poland and Mazovia.

The culture of Mazovia formed thanks to the penetration of many traditions. The region was a melting pot where representatives of different visions, trends and nationalities met. Because Warsaw was a capital, many Polish artists, painters, composers and writers were close to the city.

Jano Kochanowski, the father of the Polish poetry, wrote in the 16th century in Czarnolas (the Zwoleń District).
Diaries and literature of nobility spontaneously developed in the 17thcentury. Frederick Chopin, the most outstanding Polish composer, was born in Żelazowa Wola (the Sochaczew District). His works were often inspired by the regional folklore. The Chopin’s music is the quintessence of the Polish romanticism appealing to everyone. Many famous Poles used to live on the area of the present voivodeship, such as Piotr Skarga, born in Grójec, Polish theologian, writer and preacher, the first rector of the Vilnius University, Zygmunt Krasiński, family-related with Opinogóra (the Ciechanów District), the great Polish romantic poet, one of the Three Bards next to Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki, the poet Władysław Broniewski, related with Płock, Janusz Korczak, the great friend and educator of youth and Władysław Sebyła, the poet of the inter-war period, painter and musician murdered by NKVD with a shot in the back of his head in April 1940 in Charkov, the soldier of the September campaign in 1939.

The current cultural offer of Mazovia is experiencing both the heritage of the past, as well as the contemporary culture. The main recurring cultural events include “Palm of the Kurpie Region – Łyse” Contest, “Vanishing Professions” ethnographic workshops in Kadzidło, “Honey Harvest in the Kurpie Region” in Myszyniec, the European Folklore Meetings on the Bug River in Sokołów Podlaski, „KUPALNOCKA” International Folklore Meetings in Ciechanów, Łochów, Serock, Festival of Wedding Rituals in Węgrów, “Wedding of the Kurpie Region” in Kadzidło, “Kasztelania” International Folklore Festival in Sierpc, “Christmass Eve in Mazovia” exhibition in the Museum of the Mazovian Countryside in Sierpc.

The Mazowieckie Voivodeship has organised a number of prestigious cultural projects: “C. K. Norwid Prizes of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship”, Prizes of the Marshal of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, the Cultural Capital of Mazovia and the Mazovian Museum Events – Willow.

The works collected in numerous museums in Mazovia, allow you to get to know the past of the region. Works of contemporary artists can be admired in the Warsaw galleries. The concert offer is also rich (among others the Mozart Festival, the Warsaw Autumn Music, Jazz Jamboree, or the Easter Festival of Ludwig van Beethoven).

source: www.mazovia.pl