A Brief History of Wigry and the Post-Camaldolese Complex

Discussing the history of Wigry, we must not ignore the fact that the area once lay in the centre of the territory controlled by militant tribe of the Yotvingians. A tribe so warlike that, constantly raiding and plundering the neighbouring areas, it soon had enemies in the Prussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Masovians. A virtually impassable forest protected them against retaliation for some time, but in the end they were defeated by the Teutonic Knights in 1283. The forest became a wilderness for almost two centuries, due to its multitude of all kinds of game becoming the favourite hunting ground of the kings of Poland and grand dukes of Lithuania. Today we would say it was their entertainment area. Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas hunted here as did his brother Władysław Jagiełło, Sigismund the Old and his son Sigismund II August. Władysław IV Vasa also hunted here as well as, most importantly for this story, his brother John II Casimir. All used a hunter's harbour built on an island on Lake Wigry by Grand Duke Vytautas. Only two hundred years was it rebuilt by Władysław IV. John II Casimir, in turn, desperate and willing to procure God's favour for war-troubled Poland, gave the island and the manor, plus a huge chunk of the surrounding forest, to the Camaldolese monks from Bielany near Warsaw. It is, incidentally, the same monastery that Henryk Sienkiewicz had his unfortunate Michał Wołodyjowski take refuge in.

'Memento mori', Mr Wołodyjowski repeated, in his firm resolution to stay away from the temptations of the mundane world. That was precisely the order's rule. Complete asceticism, fasting, praying, meditation, as little talking as possible, and life in seclusion. Set amid a vast wilderness, the Wigry island was a perfect place for the Camaldolese brothers. They arrived here with a royal patent in 1667 and set down to work. It may seem alogical that instead of meditating in isolation from the outside world they started an intense colonisation of the area. They brought settlers from the neighbouring areas, founding villages and manor farms. They set up ore mines and tar works, iron-, copper- and glassworks, brickyards, mills, sawmills, breweries, and distilleries. The purpose of all that activity was to provide funds for the monastery's functioning and for the construction of an impressive temple for the praise of God. For that purpose a wide causeway was built connecting the island with the shore, and then, within three years, a wooden church and monastery were built. Shortly thereafter everything burned down in a huge fire. The construction of another monastery complex, made of brick this time, took fifty years to complete. A Baroque church was built and a separate monastery with two rows of hermitages ? small houses for hermit monks.

During the 132 years of their stay on Lake Wigry, the Camaldolese monks continued to found new villages and settlements. That is, among other things, how the city of Suwałki was founded in 1715. Their second major area of activity was industry, from which they derived huge revenues. At the end of the 18th century, the Camaldolese order was the wealthiest monastic order in Poland, if not in all of Europe. The third partition of Poland in 1795 put an end to that activity. The Prussian government dissolved the order and secularised the monastery , and in 1800 the monks had to return to their former seat in Bielany near Warsaw.

The Wigry bishop resided for some time in the post-Camaldolese buildings, but it was precisely at that time that the whole complex started falling into ruin. The two world wars completed the destruction. The reconstruction began in earnest in the 1960s and has in fact continued to this day. For over thirty years a part of the post-Camaldolese complex has been under the management of the Ministry of Culture and Art. An artist retreat centre functions here, serving artists seeking rest and inspiration, but not only them. The place has been visited by heads of state, deputies, and tourists from all over the world. Its single most eminent guest was Pope John Paul II, who spent a night in Wigry in 1999, thus complementing the place's Camaldolese history.