Krakow is following in the footsteps of Gliwice by planning the first animal cemetery in the Lesser Poland region. The City of Krakow's Gardening Team has designed the Faithful Friends Park in Nowa Huta. In addition to a burial ground for animals, a crematorium is also planned. This is in response to appeals from residents, but also a problem with the consequences of a dangerous practice. Why is it so dangerous to bury dead animals in gardens and parks?
To bury an animal is a human thing. When saying goodbye to their beloved quadrupeds, Krakow residents have so far had to use the services of clinics and private crematoria. This, however, will change in the coming years, as Krakow plans to build a "Faithful Friends Park" where pets can count on a dignified memorial. For the first pet cemetery in Malopolska, the city has designated a plot of 1.3 hectares, located in the green buffer zone of the Sendzimir Steelworks complex in Krakow on Igołomska Street, near the "Gate No. 8" bus stop in the eastern part of Nowa Huta.
Map of the place where the Faithful Friends Park will be built in Krakow
Animal cemetery on Igołomska Street in Krakow
The concept of the "Park of Faithful Friends" assumes the development of part of the land belonging to the Kraków Nowa Huta Future company in response to the appeals of residents who have been demanding for years that an animal cemetery be built in Kraków. The chosen area required dividing the burial ground into two parts - northern and southern - demarcated by railroad tracks, serving transport inside the Nowa Huta combine.
The idea behind the project is to preserve the existing stand of trees and incorporate the columbaria and monuments into the natural tissue of the trees. The result will be a space with the character of a park of reverie and contemplation - a place of remembrance harmoniously coexisting with nature, while at the same time constituting a pioneering, on a Krakow scale, establishment dedicated to the burial of pets.
- reads the board presenting the first pet cemetery in Krakow.
"Park of Faithful Friends" in Krakow, or the first cemetery for animals in Lesser Poland, will be built in Nowa Huta
proj.: Garden Team of the City of Krakow
Park of Faithful Friends
In the northern part, the project prepared by the Team of the Gardener of the City of Cracow (Katarzyna Opałka) envisages the erection of a "garden of reverie," a space surrounded by a high wall, equipped with benches and tall plantings. Adjacent to it from the east will be a service building housing an animal crematorium, designed in the form of a cuboidal pavilion with a facade obscured by wooden panels. Between the two structures will hang a horizontal beam forming a symbolic "gateway to the city of the dead."
"Park of Faithful Friends" in Krakow, or the first animal cemetery in Lesser Poland, will be built in Nowa Huta
proj.: Garden Team of the City of Krakow
To the south of the tracks crossing the pet burial ground will be two memorial areas - a columbarium zone, where owners will deposit the ashes of their beloved quadrupeds, and a memorial zone. In keeping with the project's name, the entire area is planned in the form of a park with numerous alleys paved with cobblestones, benches and plenty of greenery.
The entire project has been very delicately integrated into the existing stand of trees. Paths wind between the trees, and the place resembles a park more than a traditional necropolis. There will also be a garden of reverie - a space where one can pause after the last farewell and just be in silence for a while.
- The Garden Team of the City of Krakow writes.
"Park of Faithful Friends" in Krakow, or the first animal cemetery in Lesser Poland, will be built in Nowa Huta
proj.: Gardening Team of the City of Krakow
When will an animal cemetery be built in Krakow?
The city has presented a working schedule for the creation of the first animal cemetery in Malopolska. The conceptual work, including the development of a functional-utility program and agreements of the Garden Team of the City of Krakow and the greenery, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026. In the fourth quarter of this year, Krakow plans to announce a tender under the "design and build" formula and select a contractor for the Faithful Friends Park. Full design documentation will be created by mid-2027, then the construction, acceptance and start-up phase of the cremation plant will begin. The Faithful Friends Cemetery is expected to be ready in the fourth quarter of 2028.
"Park of Faithful Friends" in Krakow, or the first animal cemetery in Lesser Poland, will be built in Nowa Huta
proj.: Garden Team of the City of Krakow
animal friend, human need
Animal cemeteries are extremely important for the emotional well-being of city residents, as we wrote about with the planned animal cemetery in Gliwice:
Since the dawn of time, we have understood the need to properly bury the closest dead of our species. However, research indicates that the human psyche similarly demands that our four-legged friends be memorialized. What's more, the ambiguous positioning of pets between the "human" and "animal" worlds makes their burial sites spaces for experiencing mourning and funerary practices of a unique nature not found in human cemeteries.
Where to bury pets?
Designating places where pets can be buried, however, is also a response to the spatial challenges and municipal management problems of our cities. As the European Pet Food Industry Federation shows in one of its reports, Poland is home to some 19 million pets , such as dogs, cats, small mammals, birds and fish, amphibians and reptiles. When they pass away, a large number of caretakers look for ways to memorialize them, and all pet owners must eventually do something with their bodies.
"Park of Faithful Friends" in Krakow, or the first animal cemetery in Lesser Poland, will be built in Nowa Huta
proj.: Garden Team of the City of Krakow
Veterinarians and cremation centers come to the rescue by cremating the animal's corpse and then transferring it for disposal. Collective cremation is available on the market, as well as - much more expensive - individual cremation, after which owners receive the ashes of their deceased friend. For those willing to spend considerable sums, the option remains to make a so-called memorial diamond, in which the ashes of the pet are placed. Another option, of course, is to bury the pet in a dedicated burial ground, but pet cemeteries are scarce in Poland.
"Park of Faithful Friends" in Krakow, or the first cemetery for animals in Lesser Poland, will be built in Nowa Huta.
proj.: Garden Team of the City of Krakow
Burying animals in gardens and parks endangers city residents
The reality, then, is quite different - although Polish law strictly forbids such practices, every year thousands of pets are buried in home gardens, city parks and forests. Unlike cemeteries, animals are not buried in airtight coffins immersed in a deep, concrete-made grave cellar. Many of them end up in wooden crates, shoeboxes, plastic bags or directly in the ground. A pet buried in a garden or park creates a significant sanitary hazard due to the presence of bacteria that decompose corpses and other pathogens. This is dangerous both to humans, who may come across a decomposing body during garden or construction work, and to other animals that feed on the carcass.
The body of a dead animal buried directly in the ground can also be a source of contamination of the soil and groundwater by various substances, especially if the quadruped was put to sleep or received intensive treatment before it died.
"Park of Faithful Friends" in Krakow, or the first animal cemetery in Lesser Poland, will be built in Nowa Huta
proj.: Garden Team of the City of Krakow
Will Krakow residents get a chance to say goodbye to pets in a dignified, safe and responsible manner?
