Sharjah24 – AFP: Katarzyna Kaczmarek carefully arranges petals on the pavement in front of her house -- part of a long colourful flower carpet snaking its way through her village of Spycimierz in central Poland.
Every year, thousands of people descend upon the village to admire the floral handiwork. In December, UNESCO added the tradition to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
"The preparation lasts several hours, and the end result is an ephemeral and collective art piece meant to express religiosity, creativity and an appreciation of the beauty of nature," UNESCO said on its website.
Ever since Corpus Christi was introduced to Poland in 1320, the faithful have marked the occasion by walking the streets of their towns and villages to visit altars.
"For years now, the observance of the holiday has been accompanied by flowers -- petals tossed by girls before the priest," the culture ministry said in a statement this week.
In Spycimierz, residents arrange their floral design along the route of the Corpus Christi procession, meaning that everyone then walks right on top of the flower carpet.
The annual event harks back to a medieval tradition that saw royal gardens donate flowers to the Church to make its cathedrals extra snazzy for the holiday.
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To form her segment of the carpet, Kaczmarek first uses chalk to sketch out her design on the sidewalk, before covering the outline with dirt.
Residents gather the carpet supplies -- flowers, leaves, tree bark, grass -- from fields and gardens in the days leading up to the holiday.
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