Cemetery on Pośpiech Street in Katowice

The cemetery on Pawła Pośpiecha Street is the Roman Catholic parish cemetery of the parish of St Joseph, located in the eastern part of the Katowice district of Załęże, between the parish church and railway line no. 137. It was founded around 1898.

History

On the night of 3 to 4 March 1896 a fire broke out in the “Cleophas” mine in which more than a hundred miners died. During the funeral the parish priest from Bogucice vowed to build in Załęże a church of St Joseph, patron of a good death. A plot for the cemetery and church was bought together with land for a presbytery; the whole covered 3.34 ha. In the interwar years the “Kleofas” mine funded gravestones for miners who lost their lives in various mining disasters.

Layout of the cemetery

The cemetery, covering about 2 ha, is trapezoidal in plan and surrounded by a solid brick fence. The main avenue crosses it at mid-height, and the plots are marked out by side paths. Miners' gravestones stand along the main avenue, and at the crossing of the paths there is a cross with a figure of Christ on a plinth with a niche holding a figure of the Virgin Mary. There is also a Grave of Lost Children. The oldest surviving gravestone dates from 1902, and on the wall are the grave plaques of Italians, including the Petruccio family.

Practical information

• Address: Pawła Pośpiecha Street, Katowice-Załęże.
• This is an active cemetery, where the dead of neighbouring parishes are also buried. Keep quiet and show respect, and check opening times with the parish.