The Catholic cemetery in Żelechów is the burial place of the faithful from the local parish. There are many antique tombstones. They are buried, among others Ignacy Wyssogota Zakrzewski, the first president of Warsaw and Ludwik Pudło, the pre-war mayor of Żelechów. [source: Wikipedia, 918700]
The history of the cemetery
The creation of the cemetery in 1800 was forced by the Austrian authorities. The decision was related to hygienic problems when carrying out burials in the city center (at the back of the parish church). The cemetery was located on a hill between the current streets of Długa and Wilczyska at the then Warsaw course. As one of the first parishioners, in 1802, the Żelechów heir Ignacy Wyssogota Zakrzewski was buried here. The indebted Zakrzewski were unable to afford a chapel. Currently Zakrzewski's burial place is fenced and commemorated with plaques. At the cemetery there was a separate place for the burial of unbaptized children, and later also of the Orthodox military, so-called kładobizna. In 1834, the cemetery was surrounded by a fence made of field stones. From the 1840s and 1850s, the oldest preserved gravestones come from: Katarzyna from Bielasów Moreszowa (died in 1845), Nowacki siblings (died in 1850, 1859). In 1852, the then heir of Żelechów, Jan Ordęga built a chapel on the main axis of the cemetery alley. St. Cross. His wife, Karolina, was buried there, even though she was a Lutheran. She died in 1851. Church authorities, however, forced the Ordędze to transfer the body of his wife. Later, also other family members were buried in this place. The chapel is a classical building, on a rectangular plan. The front is topped with a triangular gable with a tympanum filled with a decoration with the Ordęgów - Łodzią coat of arms. There is an epitaph of Karolina from Danglów Ordężyny and Terenia Ordęga (died in 1859). Ordęgowie, until the economic crisis in 1932, paid a special subsidy for the parish for the maintenance of the chapel. In 1854, a large number of soldiers who died due to typhoid epidemics were buried in the cemetery. In the 1870s the cemetery was enlarged. In 1882, he was surrounded by a brick wall. In 1896, problems with the burial of the Protestant arose again - this time Calvinist Artur Piaskowski, the owner of the Zadybski estate, who, due to his convictions, did not pay contributions to the parish. In the 90s of the twentieth century, the cemetery was enlarged. [source: Wikipedia, 918700]
