Main page - Shtetl Routes

Journeys

We invite you to travel through the Forgotten Continent by shtetl routes of the Polish, Belorussian and Ukrainian borderland.

The Shtetl Routes travel package

The Shtetl Routes travel package includes:

- The guidebook: Shtetl Routes. Travels Through the Forgotten Continent

- A map of the Jewish heritage objects located in the borderland of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine

- A USB card with the Shtetl Routes app containing a pdf version of the guidebook as well as 3D digital models of historical towns and synagogues from the borderland of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine

- A tote bag with the Ośrodek „Brama Grodzka – Teatr NN” logo

Forgotten Continent

Small towns of Eastern Europe - Grand heritage of Europe.

3D models

Virtual journey to old places...

In the town of Motele there is a synagogue about which tales of wonder are told. I have heard them myself from an old man who lived there. Listen now to what they say about that synagogue...

The Old Shul in Motele

Shtetl, shtetlekh, township...

Co-existing churches – Catholic and Orthodox, synagogues, mosques, necropoleis – Christian, Jewish, and Muslim alike, all formed the space of townships and constituted a physical proof of the intermingling of cultures.

Jewish fables and tales

Fairy tales are magical stories, folk fables depict the lives of common folk, often enriched with divine or magical intervention. Supernatural tales express fear of evil forces – such as dybbuks, demons (especially the widespread stories of demoness Lilith, reflecting male fears about a beautiful woman able to cast an evil spell). Mystical tales on the other hand show wondrous deeds of great people, usually prominent rabbis.

A Tale of Two Towns

I had been to Żółkiew several times and always wanted to come back. There is something mystical about the place. It is completely off the tourist path—and at the same time so much a part of European history.