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Further three hills viewed as sacred mountains are situated in Pomerania. In Rowokol, where a chapel of St Nicholas recorded in 1281 existed, some constructions interpreted as remnants of a sanctuary were excavated, but the results have not been properly published (Filipowiak, 1967, p. 9-10; Buske, 1970, p. 35-39; Malinowski, 1986; SSS, vol. 4, p. 560). Góra Chełmska appears in written sources as early as in 1214, when prince Boguslaus II endowed the monastery in Białoboki with the village of Koszalin, located “near Chełm,” in 1263 there was already a chapel there (PUB, vol. 6, part 2, 1907, no. 3958; Buske, 1970, p. 17-35). Excavations carried out by H. Janocha (1966; 1974; 1988) disclosed obscure remnants of an alleged sanctuary, but attempts at interpreting them as a tempie are unconvincing. The existence of a pagan cult place on a mountain near Polanów is a sheer fantasy (Buske, 1970, p. 17, 39-40). German researchers would like to interpret as sanctuaries the hills Landsberg and Petersberg near Halle in Saxony (Brachmann, 1987, p. 49-52). Other supposedly sacred mountains are Bielboh and Czomeboh in Lusatia (Wienecke, 1940, p. 277-280; Nedo, 1964; Łowmiański, 1979, p. 189; Gieysztor, 1982, p. 81).

Not all the objects presented in this chapter can be regarded as explored to a degree that would justify their interpretation as sanctuaries. Many, including Ślęża, cali for further investigation. Nevertheless, both written sources and excavations carried out so far point to the fact that mountains had an important function in Slavonic pagan cult. They were often separ-ated from the surroundings with stone walls, some of them closed, some only marking the half-circular borders of the taboo space. Moreover, many sanctuaries of other types were situated in elevated points. Thus, the univer-sal idea of a mountain constituting the centre of the world was not alien to the Slavs. It appears also in Slavonic mythical traditions.

10. The sacred mountain in the Slavonic myths of settlement

The conviction that a mountain is the centre of the world appears in Slavonic myths about taking possession of a country (Słupecki, 1993b). The seizure of the symbolic centre opens a possibility of ruling over the whole territory (Banaszkiewicz, 1986a). It is not a coincidence that - as we remem-ber - in Ruthenian tradition Kiy founded his stronghold on the Kiev Mountain, where a sanctuary of Perun, mentioned by the Primary Russian Chronicie (year 945, 980, 988), had existed. The chronicler tried to add the Christian sacrum to the place by recording the legend that Apostle Andrew established the cross on the Kiev Mountain.

In the mythical tradition of Bohemia, Southern Little Poland and per-haps also Great Poland, the act of settlement was accomplished by captur-ing the peak that marked the centre of a territory. In Bohemia the central point from which the country was taken into possession was the mountain 6ip. As Kosmas (I, 2) wrote about the origins of his country, the man “looking for places suitable for dwelling sites (...) founded the first settle-ments and built the first houses near the mountain Rip, between the rivers Ohra and Vltava, and he rejoiced in the idols set on the ground, which he had brought on his shoulders. Then the elder, accompanied by others as a sovereign, spoke to those who followed him in this way: Triends, many times you have endured hardship [going] thorough wild forests with me; stop and make thanksgiving offerings to your gods, who helped you to reach this fatherland destined for you for a long tirne.’” Kosmas described it as a land of milk and honey. The leader urged the assembly: “ ‘If such a beau-tiful and large country came to your possession, think about a suitable name for it’. They immediateły said, as if induced by divine oracie: ’Couid we find any better name than Bohemia, as you, father, are calłed Bohemus?” The name Rip is of Germanie origin and means simply “a mountain” (SSS, vol. 4, p. 637). flip is an elevated hill, reaching 456 metres, standing alone at the bank of the Elbę in the very heart of the Czech Valley, between the estuaries of the Vltava and Ohra rivers, very close to the most important Old-Bohemian strongholds: Levy Hradec, Prague, Libuśin, Tetin, Libice and Koufim (Vana, 1985, p. 29-30). The summit of Rip is topped with

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