The hamlet of Czerwona is part of the village of Gronowice in the Opolskie Voivodeship. The photo made its way to the ‘Star Wars Ships’ Facebook group, where it garnered several thousand likes. Fans of the group compared the Polish settlement to the Millennium Falcon ship known from Star Wars.
The author of the photo is Tomasz Matusiak, who deals with photography as a hobby. He found out about the existence of the place through his colleague Piotr Pabisiak, who is a professional photographer. Tomasz Matusiak first photographed the hamlet with the help of a drone in May. Back then, the buildings were surrounded by a yellow and green landscape. He took the new photo in winter, when there was a thick layer of snow in the fields around the buildings.
The photo was published on the ‘Star Wars Ships’ group website on 18 January. In just a few days, the photograph received more than 8,000 likes and more than 400 comments from Internet users from all over the world. It was the winter weather that made it possible to create the illusion that the shape of the buildings brings the shape of the Millennium Falcon. Why were the farms built on a circular plan?
There are several so-called okolnice, or groups of farms, which were built on a circular plan. The central square between the buildings was used to house the livestock. This arrangement of buildings was supposed to improve the safety of the inhabitants and protect them in case of attacks – there was usually only one road leading to settlements created in this way.
Often, over the years, churches were built in the central parts or ponds were dug. In the case of the hamlet of Czerwona, the central part is occupied by a residential building.
The surroundings were built in Pomerania and Bohemia. Only a few villages with a legible form of okolnica have survived to this day; examples are: Chorzewo near Pniewo, Łąkie near Świebodzin, Jamno and Łabusz within the borders of Koszalin and the hamlet of the village of Gronowice.
photos: Tomasz Matusiak
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