Warsaw's mapping service offers residents and researchers a new tool for locating burial sites. The search engine covers data from five cemeteries in the capital, including the historic Powązki and municipal necropolises. It allows users to find a grave based on the surname, first name, or date of death of the person commemorated on the headstone.

Database Coverage

The tool developed by the city combines information on over a quarter of a million graves and over half a million buried individuals. The catalogue covers the following necropolises:

  • Stare Powązki,
  • North Municipal Cemetery (Cmentarz Komunalny Północny),
  • Military Cemetery at Powązki (Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach),
  • part of the Evangelical-Augsburg Cemetery (Cmentarz Ewangelicko-Augsburski),
  • part of the Orthodox Cemetery in Wola (Cmentarz Prawosławny na Woli).

The database is updated in cooperation with the Warsaw Municipal Cemeteries Board (Zarząd Cmentarzy Komunalnych w Warszawie) and the Capital City Office of the Chief Conservator of Historic Monuments (Biuro Stołecznego Konserwatora Zabytków). The user selects the necropolis of interest from the menu on the left, then enters available data, such as part of a surname or a first name. The precision of the results increases with the number of pieces of information provided, including the date of death.

Ten-Year Inventory at Powązki

The creation of the database began with an inventory of Stare Powązki, a cemetery founded in 1790. Documentation work started in 2009 and ended in 2019, lasting a total of a decade. This project was the first endeavor of such scale in the history of this necropolis; previous lists were selective, focusing mainly on the oldest part of the cemetery or monuments of artistic significance.

During the inventory at Stare Powązki, over 98,000 objects were recorded, including graves, burial plots, and commemorative plaques. Burial sites are located in 436 sections (quarters), the Alley of the Distinguished (Aleja Zasłużonych), and in the catacombs. The collected data on the appearance, condition, and location of the objects was transferred to an electronic database, which was then integrated with the internet mapping service.

Methods for Reading Inscriptions

One of the most difficult stages of the inventory work was reading eroded and illegible inscriptions. Experts tested various techniques to extract the content carved into the stone. According to the source, the best results were achieved by methods involving pouring water on the headstones and illuminating them at an appropriate angle, which allowed distinguishing the flat surface from the depth of the letters.

In the case of monuments overgrown with moss, covered with soil, or hidden by vegetation, touch often proved to be the key to success. This allowed inscriptions hidden under layers of nature to be deciphered. The collected documentation can now be checked online, and individuals seeking more detailed information, such as historians or Warsaw specialists (varsavianists), may contact the Capital City Office of the Chief Conservator of Historic Monuments.