Sacral objects are found across all major religions worldwide. The contemporary urban landscape, shaped by cultural, social, and utilitarian interdependencies, is enriched by places of worship, which strengthen social bonds and ensure the continuity of cultural heritage. In Poland, wayside shrines and crosses serve as sites of local religious practices, co-creating the genius loci as carriers of local history. Since the nineteenth century, they have been subjected to urbanisation pressure and may become incongruous with the transformed urban landscape, uprooted by evolving transport systems, spatial functions, and social needs. Relocation, as a preservation method, perpetuates historic shrines and crosses, while shaping new sacral landscape interiors and should therefore constitute a sustainable heritage preservation strategy. The article analyses this conservation strategy as applied in southern Kraków. Based on surveys, archival maps, orthophoto, press articles, the literature, and fieldwork, we pinpoint 25 relocated features out of 126 found across five city districts. Our literature and case study analysis identifies factors influencing the preservation of religious, landscape, social, and cultural functions. Despite altering original locations, a dramatic intervention into the urban fabric and local community space, relocation remains an effective tool for protecting historic substance and managing the landscape.
Górka et al. (Tue,) studied this question.