Religion at the Times of Changes in Łódź Organizational, Spatial and Social Structures

Abstract

The influence of religion on shaping the urban space has to be considered in at least two ways. Firstly, we have cities being created around the places of religious worship (Jackowski 2003, Beaujeu-Garnier, Chabot 1971). Secondly, we have places of religious worship created within the urban space. In both cases, we are dealing with the term of 2 religious space, which by analogy to S. Liszewski’s tourist space (1999) and A. Jackowski’s pilgrimage space (2004) can be defined as subspace of geographical space, created in relevance to its functions. It also seems that for the religious space of the city, its meaning defined by people is no less important than its functions. This article aims to analyze the changes of religious space in Łódź. The issue is presented in relation to the evolution of religious structure of Łódź citizens, from the early 19th century to present times. Various source materials have been used to create this article: census data, archive documents, interviews and questionnaires.