BIBLICAL GARDEN and ITEGRATION CENTER ON THE HILL IN GDAŃSK  (CING) - „OGRÓD BIBLIJNY” and „CENTRUM INTEGRACJI NA GÓRCE W GDAŃSKU”. 

The "Biblical Garden" was created in spring 2019 by the Pallottine Sisters of the "Integration Center on the Hill" [CING]. As the name suggests, they are situated "on the hill"; the garden is with panoramic terraces overlooking various districts of Gdańsk and, above all, with an educational path where, among beautiful vegetation, you can find structures symbolizing biblical places and events - the Old and New Testaments. Here you can find a pillar of salt, stone tablets of God's Commandments or the rock of Moses, walls made of the waters of the Red Sea, through which the Hebrews escaped from Egypt ... There is a nativity scene, the house of Nazareth, the boat of Peter, jugs from Cana of Galilee, a lost pearl, there are wise and imprudent virgins with their lamps, etc. The most important place, however, is the empty tomb that reminds us of Christ's resurrection. There are educational boards and many other items. This garden is created and maintained only by donations from various donors. It is still being created, enlarged with new biblical structures, depending on financial and time possibilities ... 

According to the entries in the "Guest Book of Centrum Integracji Na Górce i Ogrodu Biblijnego", since the opening of the Garden in May 2019 and the Integration Center in June 2019, many individuals, families and organized groups have taken advantage of the offer of the Biblical Garden and the Integration Center - approx. 4,700 people within 20 months, on average more than 235 people per month, including 1,422 people with disabilities, despite the Covid-19 pandemic lasting from March 2020. There were 200 meetings of smaller or larger groups. 

• CING on WEB ‘Trójmiasto.pl’
• CING and Biblical Garden on WEB ‘biskupiagorka.pl’
• OGRÓD BIBLIJNY on WEB ‘7zdjeczgdanska.pl'

The House on the Hill - Gdańsk Siedlce, ul. Malczewskiego 144 

Some groups meet at the Integration Center weekly, others monthly. Some individuals come back several times and bring new people, new families and new groups, appreciating not only the aesthetic and biblical values of the garden, but also the hospitality of the sisters from the "Integration Center on the Hill", who show all visitors both around the Biblical Garden and after the exhibitions in the Memorial Room and galleries in the house - "Centrum Integracji Na Górce". Some visitors emphasize that they learn something new every time, because each of the guiding sisters emphasizes different elements and enriches their knowledge.

So far, three exhibitions have been presented in the Memorial Chamber of the Integration Center on Hill: 

• From June 8 to October 2019, the artistic legacy of Sr. Julitta Gołębiowska, SAC, was presented,

• From October 2019 to March 2020, a missionary exhibition was presented, which was also used for many mission workshops for children and youth from various schools and parish groups from the Tri-City (z Trójmiasta), 

• From May 2020, an exhibition related to the 75th anniversary of the stay and apostolic work of the Pallottine Sisters in Gdańsk (from May 1945) is presented.

• A permanent element of the exhibition since the opening of the center are two rooms associated with the beginning of the Pallottine Sisters in Poland in 1934-1945, these were the Borderlands of the Second Republic - in the Nowogródek and Vilnius Region, and after World War II - in Gdańsk, in the so-called "Dom na Górce" (“House on the Hill”, current Integration Center). This house was the main seat of the Polish Pallottine Sisters for over 40 years.  Here, in 1945, an orphanage for post-war orphans, a kindergarten for local children and a boarding house for poor girls were established, later transformed into the "Caritas" House for handicapped girls. This is also where the formation of candidates for the Congregation took place. Here, too, important decisions about making new works in various parts of Poland and Africa were made.

sr. Julitta Gołębiowska SAC - Triptych: Epiphany

In addition to the "physical" exhibition, visitors can also use multimedia materials prepared by the Sisters from the Integration Center, or received as a gift from the Mission Center of our Polish Province. They concern the history of the establishment of the congregation, the beginnings of the Pallottine Sisters in Poland, the artistic legacy of Sr. Julitta Gołębiowska and various mission materials.

Further exhibitions are being prepared, multimedia materials in connection with the upcoming jubilees, incl. 100th anniversary of the diocese of Gdańsk and the activity of the Pallottine Sisters and other women's congregations during this period. As part of our statutory obligations, we cooperate with the "Archive" of the Archdiocese of Gdańsk, with the Gdańsk Museum, with the Gdańsk branch of the Institute of National Remembrance and the State Archives, and with other religious congregations. 

Baroque music concert

The "Memorial Room" with its galleries also served many times for various cultural meetings, incl. for small concerts of baroque music, concert classical and contemporary accordion and guitar music, carol concerts, poetry and music meetings, etc. The performers were both professional musicians or students and doctoral students of the Academy of Music in Gdańsk, poets, as well as amateur parish groups - children and youth.

Various workshops were held at the Biblical Garden and the Integration Center. In addition, both in the CING rooms or in the Biblical Garden - by the fire, there were also many integration meetings of various groups - both people with disabilities (blind, deaf, physically and intellectually disabled; patients with genetic diseases, e.g. EDS), various parish groups of children, youth and adults, parish choirs, music worship groups and other prayer groups, scouts and Cub Scouts, families with children as well as the "Nasz Gdańsk" Association and many groups of associations of retirees from the Tri-City and the surrounding area …  

CING and Biblical Garden _ A festival with the disabled

Links to information about the Biblical Garden ("Ogród Biblijny") and the Integration Center on Hill ("Centrum Integracji Na Górce") in Gdańsk

1. INTEGRATION CENTER ON HILL In Gdańsk (CENTRUM INTEGRACJI NA GÓRCE w Gdańsku):

• ”Chronicle of the Integration Center on the Hill”
• ”News at Integration Center on the Hill”
• ”Photo gallery: Integration Center on the Hill”

2. BIBLICAL GARDEN in Gdańsk (OGRÓD BIBLIJNY w Gdańsku):

• ”Chronicle of events in the Biblical Garden in Gdańsk”
• ”News in the Biblical Garden in Gdańsk”
• ”Photo gallery from the Biblical Garden in Gdańsk”
• ”Videos from the Biblical Garden in Gdańsk”

The Biblical Garden was also visited and "described" in the media by various editorial offices from the Tri-City area: several times the Gdańsk branch of the editorial office of "Gość Niedzielny", the editorial office of the "Siedlce District Council", twice the editorial office of the "Nasz Gdańsk" Association and others, which resulted in further articles and broadcasts, including in the regional editorial offices of the state radio (Radio Gdańsk) and television (TVP3 Gdańsk),

cf. „PISZĄ i MÓWIĄ O NAS” („THEY WRITE AND TALK ABOUT US”):

• ”THEY WRITE about the Integration Center on Hill”
• ”Articles, radio and TV broadcasts about the Biblical Garden in Gdańsk”
• ”Biblical Garden in Gdańsk - quick search on the internet”
• ”The Biblical Garden in Gdańsk from a bird's eye view”

See also: The Biblical Garden in Gdańsk on YouTube:

• ”The Biblical Garden in Gdańsk 2020 - MERIBA waters”
• ”The Biblical Garden in Gdańsk 2020 - Passage through the Red Sea”
• ”Spring walk around the Bible Garden in Gdańsk ‘Na Górce’ - 2020”
• "The Biblical Garden in Gdańsk 2020 - Spring flowers with quotes”
• ” The Biblical Garden in Gdańsk 2020 - Information in Panorama TVP3”

Listen to the Radio Gdańsk broadcast about the Biblical Garden in Gdańsk (PL):

• On the Radio Gdansk website you can find an article with photos about the Biblical Garden in Gdansk (PL)
• CING on WEB ‘Trójmiasto.pl’
• OGRÓD BIBLIJNY on WEB ‘7zdjeczgdanska.pl'

Text and photos: sr. Aleksandra Podleżańska SAC

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Tel. +48 691 089 038,        E-mail: ci.ng@vp.pl         www.u-pallotynek.pl