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  What it means

  Literally “lantern of the dead.” A medieval stone tower with a light burning at the top, placed in cemeteries to guide the souls of the dead. Used figuratively for anything that illuminates or commemorates the departed.

  Vocabulary

  • latarnia — lantern
  • umarły — dead person, the deceased

  Grammar note

  'Umarłych' is the genitive plural of 'umarły' — genitive of possession/relation.

  Cultural context

  Latarnie umarłych are found in several Polish medieval sites — a haunting symbol of the boundary between the living and the dead, deeply connected to Polish Catholic funerary tradition.

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