LET'S EXPLORE POLAND

Copyright 1996 by the AngloPol Corporation

This series will take us through the cities, towns, villages and countryside of Poland, 
as well as give us insights into the rich history and culture of the nation.

Part 5

MORE FORESTS, WOODS AND LAKES

The densely forested Augustow Plain joins up with the Suwalki Lake District to the north, an area of varied landscapes, strongly corrugated by glacial action. The most scenically attractive is the northern part of the Suwalki region, towards Wizajny, with numerous ravines containing winding streams and lake depressions in the valley floors. Here the Czarna Haricza flows through Lake Haricza, the deepest in Poland (108 meters), although less than three square kilometers in area.

From the town of Suwalki, still small despite its voivodship status, the road to the north east takes us to Szypliszki; near here, an international team of archaeologists discovered an ancient township and cemetery of the Prusso-Lithuanian Jacwing people, extinct since the Middle Ages. Heading east from Suwalki, on the other hand, we arrive at Sejny, close to the Polish-Lithuanian border, the headquarters of the Lithuanian Social and Cultural Association.

Turning westward, only the Elk lakeland where the main centers for tourist accommodation and obtaining provisions are Elk and Olecko-- separates us from the Great Mazurian Lake District. Representing a vertical strip on the map of Poland, from Wegorzewo in the north to Ruciane and Pisz in the south, this region is a veritable paradise for water sports enthusiasts. Around 20% of the total area of Mazuria is made up of lakes, including the two largest in Poland, Sniardwy (113.8 sq. km.) and Mamry (104.4 sq. km). The lakes were joined together by canals back in the 19th century, thereby forming one great waterway system, which can be traveled by a multitude of itineraries, according to individual preference.

Tourists can explore the lakes by canoe, dinghy or yacht, or aboard the pleasure steamers of the Mazurian Boat Lines. Motorists and hikers are also well catered for. Whatever the means at their disposal, tourists will find plenty to choose from: a network of river lodges, campsites, guest houses and hotels, boat hire facilities and shops, including an increasing number of mobile shops, which appear at the most remote camping grounds.

Despite the large number of tourists passing through, both the Great Pisz Forest and the lakes themselves are dotted with nature reserves, including the great reserve of the wild swan and the heron preserve on Lake Luknajno, the waterfowl sanctuary on Lake Kruklin near Gizycko, and the cormorant sanctuary on Wysoki Ostrow island on Lake Mamry. However, it is not just nature that attracts visitors to the Great Lake District. On the western verge of the lakes lies Ketrzyn, an old settlement adjoining a castle of the Teutonic Knights. The castle has been subject to structural alteration and today houses a museum of regional history. Ketrzyn is just ten kilometers from Gierloz, the wartime headquarters of Hitler and the site of an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate him in June 1944. Known as the "Wolf's Lair," these headquarters covered an area of eight square kilometers, encompassing several dozen reinforced concrete bunkers sunk many stories into the ground, together with an airfield, railway station and generating plant. Most of what today remains to be seen are ruins, since the German army destroyed and flooded the greater part of the buildings as it retreated in January, 1945.

Ketrzyn is also only thirteen kilometers by road from Gwieta Lipka, an old village situated between two lakes, known for the Jesuit monastery complex built here in the 17th century. The pilgrimage Church of the Visitation is noteworthy for its lime tree with a silver figure of the Virgin Mary, its huge, three-story altar dating from the beginning of the 18th century and its Baroque organ, while the treasury contains richly embroidered chasubles, gifts from Polish lords and bishops. Six kilometers away is Reszel, an estate belonging to the bishops of Warmia from the mid-13th century to the end of the 18th. Towering over the historical town here is the late Gothic bishop's castle, featuring a cylindrical tower and a defensive gallery which today houses the Warmia and Mazuria Gallery of Modern Art and a display of natural history specimens and hunting exhibits.

Lipka and Reszel are located at the very northern edge of the Mragowo lakeland, a humpbacked ridge stretching north to south, furrowed with long tunnel-valley lakes. These are considerably less attractive than the Great Lakes, however: they are smaller, with only partly wooded shores, and are unconnected with each other. At the center of this district lies the town of Mragowo, sandwiched between two lakes, with developed tourist and leisure facilities, partially restored historical buildings and a small regional museum in the old Town Hall. Southward, the district ends at the town of Szczytno on Lake Dlugie, with extant fragments of a Teutonic castle.

The next belt of blue and green on our map is formed by the Olsztyn Lake District. At its northern edge we find Lidzbark, the old capital of Warmia and seat of the bishops of Warmia; the last Pole to hold this office was the famous Enlightenment poet and writer of fables, Ignacy Krasicki.

The capital of this region, Olsztyn, lies in the center of the lakes, on the banks of the River Lyna. Little remains of the town's centuries of history save some reconstructed buildings. One of these is the Gothic capitular castle of the See of Warmia, today home to the central Museum of Warmia and Mazuria, which has an interesting art collection (from medieval art onwards) and an extensive collection of manuscripts attesting to the Polish traditions of the region. A modern building erected on the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus houses the Planetarium of Space Flight.

The town of Olsztynek marks the southern border of the Olsztyn Lake District and features an ethnographic park with exhibits of the folk architecture of Warmia, Mazuria and the Vistula Valley. Several beautiful lakes are located in the nearby forests, such as Lake Plusznie.

It was in the mid-18th century, that the chronicles of Gallus Anonimus were discovered. Written at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, these are considered to be the first historical record of Poland under the Piast dynasty. The Gothic castle itself, situated inside a bend in the River Lyna, is a monumental rectangular building with a two-story arcaded gallery running around its courtyard, finely decorated chambers displaying paintings from the 14th century and later periods, a Gothic "Stilted Hall" and deep dungeons. Owing its present condition to thoroughgoing reconstruction and restoration work, Lidzbark Castle is a listed building of the very highest class. It now functions as a museum, with exhibitions entitled "Great residents of Lidzbark Castle" and "Castle Lanskie." On the shores of the latter stands a special holiday center once built for the government--formerly fenced off from the rest of the world and closely guarded, today it is open to the general public.

About a dozen kilometers separate Olsztynek from Stebark and the Museum of the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg). Fought in 1410, this battle saw the defeat of the Teutonic Knights at the hands of a joint Polish-Lithuanian force under King Ladislaus Jagiello and was to influence the history of both Poland and Europe as a whole. The command posts and location and movement of the armies are represented on the battlefield, in the center of which is the Museum, containing information and documentation on the course of the battle and its historical significance. The Museum building also constitutes the supporting structure of an amphitheater, where open-air historical spectacles are held.

To reach the River Vistula from the Great Mazurian Lake District (divided into various smaller lakeland districts), we still have to cross the Ilawa Lake District, whose principal lakes are connected to the Bay of the Vistula by the Elblag Canal. The largest towns here are Morag, near Lake Narie, Ostroda on Lake Drwieckie, currently the most developed resort in Warmia, and Ilawa itself, standing on the serpentine shoreline of Lake Jeziorak. To the south, a natural continuation of this district is the Brodnica lakeland, which has a number of scenic tunnel-valley lakes, such as Bachotek and Parteczyny.