The next village (or is is villages?) to the east of Jakubowizna is (or are?) called Machcin. Not, however, if you consult any map. There, you will find Nowe Winary. But Nowe Winiary doesn't exist - not according to the Urzędowy wykaz nazw miejscowości (Poland's official list of place names, all 2,504 pages of them!). Instead, you'll find signs for Machcin II. And, beyond Machcin itself, there's a place that the maps show as Praga Machcińska - which again doesn't figure in the UWNM, but is shown on the ground as Machcin I. Funnily enough, neither Machcin I nor Machcin II make it into the UWNM, which is considered the definitive list.
Making the most of the perfect early-September weather, I took a long walk, and then a short motorbike ride, around the Machcins. Below: 'central' Machcin. This wooden house has been preserved - a new house, barn and garage stand behind a yard, full of modern farming machinery. The wooden house has been left, facing the main street, proclaiming that the owners have been here for generations. I expect this will become a trend - keep the original, old wooden house, do it up, keep it as a monument - a family museum, almost, while running a modern, commercially viable farm with comfortable modern house in the back.
Signposts need getting one's head around. As you drive from north-east to south-west, you first pass Machcin I (Praga Machcińska on maps), then Machcin proper, then Machcin II (Nowe Winiary on maps). Hope that's clear. The sign on the right, if you look carefully, looks like it's had the second 'I' painted over in white reflective paint. Note too - Polish villages tend not to have street names; the address is merely village name and number.
Below: crossroads, Machcin I. To the left, the village shop - closed for good. "Use it or lose it" - the villagers lost it. Their nearest small local stores are both 2.8km away - one in Grobice, the other in Rososz, both similar in appearance (no more than a basic box with door and window).
Below: according to OpenStreetMap, to the east of Jakubowizna lies Nowe Winiary...
Below: and according to the official map of Gmina Chynów, this is Nowe Winiary...
...and yet on the ground it's Machcin II and there's no sign of Nowe Winiary on any house-number or road sign. And talking to neighbours, I've never heard 'Nowe Winiary' mentioned in all the time I've lived here.
Below: the border between Jakubowizna and Machcin lies in the middle of the forest up ahead. The year is fast approaching fruition. The apples will soon be ripe, and these farm tracks will again be full of tractors and trailers, the sound of fruit dropping into pails will be heard among the trees.
Below: just slightly further along the track, we can view the IV. Canonical Prospect of Jakubowizna.
Below: the road into Jakubowizna from Machcin - to the right, the track to Adamów Rososki, a village inaccessible via any asphalt road. Adamów Rososki is mentioned in the UWNM.
Below: further along towards Adamów Rososki. A quintessentially Polish rural byway.
house on a
działka, Adamów Rososki.
Below: homeward bound, the old familiarity. Sandy Lane meets Stella-Plage.
It has been another beautiful day, for which I am deeply grateful.
Bonus pic: north of Krężel station, on the way to Chynów and Jakubowizna. This is where I am from, as far as is metaphysically possible.
It is actually quite simple. "Urzędowy wykaz nazw miejscowości" has only names of "miejscowości" with a TERYT number. All "miejscowości" without it, exist, but are in "Państwowy Rejestr Nazw Geograficznych (PRNG)". This is the case of Nowe Winiary. Nowe Winiary is a "przysiółek wsi" or a hamlet of Machcin. You can enable this PRNG layer on Geoportal https://mapy.geoportal.gov.pl/imap/Imgp_2.html in the catalogue "Dane topograficzne". The case of Machcin I and Machcin II is different. They are not in the PRNG nor "Urzędowy wykaz nazw miejscowości", because these are names of "obręby ewidencyjne"! In Poland, there are no official boundaries of villages, only cities and towns have them. But, there has to be "something" similar to a border of a village. That is, in most cases, the "obręb ewidencyjny". You can view them also in Geoportal, after enabling the layer "Państwowy Rejestr Granic" (PRG). So basically, the village is split into two Machcins, but they all have only Machcin as an official address and there is only one "sołectwo Machcin". I hope it is now easier to understand : )
ReplyDeleteOh and one more thing. The Nowe Winiary in the official map of gmina Chynów is actually a layer of OpenStreetMap enabled in e-mapa : ) I am not sure, why gmina Chynów e-mapa does not have a layer of "obręby ewidencyjne" Most e-maps have them, for example https://lesznowola.e-mapa.net
ReplyDelete@syntex - thank you SO much for your knowledgeable insight here! Only in Poland can there be an 'Urzędowy wykaz nazw miejscowości' AND a 'Państwowy Rejestr Nazw Geograficznych'. Is one run by PiS, the other by wredne chamstwo opozycyjne? :-) Will have to look at the PRNG database, of which I was unaware. To me, raised in common-law England, the key is habitual rather than official usage - what do people call the area where they live? A lack of any sign on the ground that a Nowe Winiary (or a Praga Machcińska) exist suggest that residents are not comfortable with those names and prefer Machin II or Machin I respectively. I like OpenStreetMap for its precision when it comes to demarcating borders between the smallest administrative area. The Nowe Winiary-vs-Machin II question is one for the sołtys! I shall have to enquire... Obręby ewidencyjne is another (potentially more important) issue to follow up on!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very interesting whey have they abandoned the name of Nowe Winiary. On one hand I have seen villages, that have addresses without a green sign with the name of them, for example: Kolonia Mrokowska. On the other hand, I've seen hamlets with this green sign, for example: Wygoda, which is a hamlet of the Wólka Kosowska village, and does not have independent addresses. Also, there is a rule, that only "wieś" and "osada" are allowed to have addresses(+cities and towns of course. Fun fact-cities and towns must have street names. Fun fact2- there is no difference in the polish law between a city and a town). All "miejscowości" below them, such as "przysiółek" or "część wsi", can't have them. There are too many types of "miejscowości" in Poland :) https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klasyfikacja_miejscowości_i_ich_części_w_Polsce
ReplyDeleteIn Warsaw, "Miejski System Informacji" (MSI) areas, basically "destroyed" all the names of smaller areas within them. I've never seen names of Dawidy Zwykłe, Zgorzała nad Jeziorem, Nowe Jeziorki or Jeziorki Polskie on street or on any signs. They are officially called a "część miasta". Maybe we should change the name of Warszawa Dawidy to Warszawa Dawidy Zwykłe :)
@syntex
ReplyDeleteHaha! Great stuff... W-wa Dawidy Zwykłe and MSI here: https://jeziorki.blogspot.com/2020/12/new-asphalt-for-jeziorki-or-dawidy.html
Village - town - city... There are many villages (typically exurban ones) that have seen large population growth caused by urban types fleeing the cities (or returning to their roots) that are striving to become officially 'towns'. One such is Gabryelin - which is annoyed at its local station called something other than Gabryelin... https://jeziorki.blogspot.com/2022/08/dont-call-me-czachowek-my-name-is.html (are these the Biggest Green Signs in Poland?)
@Michael Dembinski
ReplyDeleteI always thought, that the name of this station is strange. I have not known about those huge signs and the protest movement though! They want to be a city/town? Józefosław has more than 10 000 inhabitants and it is still a village!
PS They recently fixed the sign of ulica Poduchowna : )