White chamber

A white chamber is a core of house, a secret room to which nobody  can come by inmates.

It is an old tradition off Tatra Mountains villages that has been fading away finally and irrevocably. A door to the white chamber is always locked and the key is guarded (most often it is hidden under a housekeeper's feather bad). This strange room, which is called a sumptuous chamber or a sacristy, is inhabited an unheated.

It is open on Sundays and holidays  only. One  can't sleep though there's a bed, one can either eat or nor work though there's a table in there. Those who know the depth of the theme  say that this is a porch  between life and death in which only a deceased can spend a night.

This is why a conventional altar, rug and some pictures of the saints are placed on a central wall. Embroidered pillows, artificial flowers and plastic statues make a colorful pomp. Elements of religion, tradition and fashion are mixed up with objects of kitsch broth from America, which show the wealth of the family. Surprising is the fact, that  even nowadays  there are some houses in which a broad family occupies only one room while the other room is cool and reach white chamber.