A communist leader once described a feminist as ‘an eccentric and aggressive WITCH, being anyway a lesbian, that would like to see a man go on all fours by her leg’. The common misconception that a witch is synonymous with evil stems from the notion that a knowledgeable woman is a dangerous woman–a witch.

The Marzanna Coven Hotel is inspired by local folklore. Located in Lysa Gora, Poland, the area is commonly recognised as a hotspot for witch sabbaths and pagan worship. The building will act as a home for a coven of eight witches, as well as a hotel and place of worship for visitors practising the old Slavic Faith. The project employs matriarchal structures, such as the coven and the beehive, and relates itself to the issues faced by Polish women. The main altar space will act as a beehive, where bees will decorate artefacts brought by visitors. Each year, on the 21st of March, the Marzanna Altar Hive will be removed from the building and relocated to the forest as a sacrifice to the Goddess Marzanna. Formed from the honeycomb-covered visitors’ offerings, the hive helps contribute to the long-term repopulation of honeybees on site.