Saturday, May 21, 2011

Biskupin in Snow

Biskupin is the most famous archaeological site in Poland. The site was probably established in 700 BC (over 2700 years ago) by people of the Lusatian culture.

It was discovered in 1933 by local students who noticed strangely-looking wooden poles sticking out from the lake. In subsequent years the site was reconstructed and today it serves as a life-size model of Iron Age fortified settlement.

The settlement was divided into thirteen rows of huts, separated by timber roads. There was a total of around 100 huts, each around 70 - 90 m2, occupied by 800 to 1000 people.

The settlement was located on the island on the Lake Biskupin to provide better protection for its inhabitants. Additionally, there was also a wooden breakwater in the lake and a 3 meters high, 3.5 meter wide and 550 meters long fortification made up from a series of wooden boxes filled with dirt and stones. Only a small part of the fortification and two rows of houses were reconstructed thus far, but they give you a good idea of how Biskupin must have looked 2700 years ago.

During spring, summer and autumn, Biskupin is visited by thousands of people a day, mostly teenagers from secondary schools from all over Poland. I still remember my class trip here and even my parents remember theirs!

Biskupin has not changed much since I saw it last, except for the lake now being frozen due to winter... The other thing that was different about it was also lack of any other tourists and hardly any footsteps on the snow... There are benefits to sightseeing during winter :)


Biskupin in winter:










Inside the huts: