Exploring the Silesian Highlands

Ćwiklice
St.Martin’s Church
On a fine weekend, Matt and Urszula invited us for a ride to several nice places located in the Silesian Highlands, and first, to pay a visit to several ancient wooden churches nearby. Many thanks, dear friends!

St.Martin’s Church, Cwiklice

We made several stops during our short pilgrimage and visited several unique wooden churches. First of all, we paid a visit to St.Martin’s Church in Cwiklice. St. Martin’s Church in Ćwiklice near Pszczyna is situated on a small hill, and there is a cemetery around it. The church is built on oak foundations, and the walls and the roof truss are made of fir wood. Until recently, it was believed that the church was built in the mid-16th century. In 2010, the facility was severely damaged during the flood. It turned out that he might be in danger of a construction disaster, and then the restoration works began. During their course, some remains of wooden constructions were discovered. The ancient wooden constructions were examined, and the year of cutting down the last trees used for its construction was established. It was 1466. The church was renovated in 1837. At the entrance to the church, you can see memorial plaques that were attached to commemorate the parishioners who died during the First World War and the Silesian Uprisings.

The interior dates to the middle of the 18th century. It includes three late-baroque altars. In the main one is dedicated to the patron of the church, St. Marcin.

The altar also includes sculptures of Saints Wojciech and St.Stanisław. In the side altars there are paintings of the Crucifixion and Virgin Mary, accompanied by statues of saints.
The 15th-century Gothic triptych in the side chapel is a valuable relic. In the central part there is an image of the Mother of God with the Child, and on the obverses there is an image of the saints: St.John the Baptist, St.Jakob the Elder, St.Małgorzata and St.Dorota.

Grzawa
St.John the Baptist Church

St.John the Baptist Church, Grzawa

The church was probably erected at the beginning of the 16th century. In the years 1580-1628 it was the property of Protestants. Only in 1651 it was returned to Catholics, and the building became a branch of the parish in Miedźna. It was rebuilt in 1690.

The main baroque altar was renovated in 1870 by a painter from Kęty, Karol Stankiewicz. In 1883, brothers Stanisław and Józef Bernadzikiewicz from Kraków decorated the interior with polychrome. The richly colored paintings depicted figural and ornamental motifs. At the beginning of the 20th century, turrets for a bell were erected. The building, having a carcass structure, was erected on the foundations of oak logs, the so-called "Peckach", which is an original and unique solution in this area.
The almost square nave and the chancel are covered with gable roofs. The roof over the nave is topped with a turret. The tower located on the axis of the temple has a baroque top covered with sheet metal. The roof, the walls of the tower and the sheds are shingled.
The furnishings inside the church date to the 17th and 18th centuries and are generally baroque in character.
The altar includes, among others, the sculptures of angels and Apostles St.Peter and St.Paul, as well as paintings, including the seventeenth-century painting depicting the Mother of God with Child, and the nineteenth-century painting depicting St. John the Baptist and the Coronation of the Mother of God. There are also interesting sculptures of saints in the side altars: St.Cecilia, St.Barbara and St.Charles of Borromeo, as well as paintings depicting saints: St.Helena, St.Florian, as well the painting depicting the death of St. Joseph.

Miedzna
The church of St. Clement of the Pope was erected in 1721 on the site of a demolished, also wooden building. The building was already in such a bad condition that the then parish priest Andrzej Rozmus Zabrzeski decided to build a new temple.

The Wooden Church of St Clement the Pope in Miedźna

St.John the Baptist Church, Grzawa

Church of St Clement the Pope, Miedźna

The present church is the largest wooden temple in the Pszczyna District. It is placed on a plan typical for Silesian churches. It consists of a rectangular nave, a rectangular chancel adjoining it from the east with an added sacristy and a tower connected with the nave from the west.

The interior of the church is very spacious thanks to the elongated nave. It is well lit and has many windows. In presbytery behind the altar, there is a 15th-century Gothic stained-glass window depicting the scene of the Crucifixion. The nave is covered with a flat ceiling with an imitation of coffers. The walls of the nave and the chancel are covered with sawn timber. In the western part, there is a gallery with a small organ, supported by four wooden pillars.

Church of St Clement the Pope, Miedźna

Church of St Clement the Pope in Miedźna

In the altar there is a painting with the image of St. Clement of the Pope, who is obscured by the nineteenth-century image of the Madonna.
In the side altar on the side of the gospel, there is a painting from the 18th century depicting the Mother of God with the Child.

Góra
St.Barbars’s Church

St.Barbara Church, Góra

St.Barbara Church, Góra

According to the information board that stands at the church entrance, St.Barbars’s Church in Góra was built on an east-west axis at the beginning of the 16th century as a chapel. During the after-war reconstruction, the tower was rebuilt, and a nave was added. The chancel and the nave are covered with separate shingled roofs. The external walls are covered with vertical clapboards.

St.Barbara Church, Góra

St.Barbara Church, Góra

St.Barbara Church, Góra

World War I memorial plaques at the entrance to the church.

St.Barbara Church, Góra

St.Barbara Church, Góra

Inside the church you can see a polychrome, a pulpit and a stone baptismal font. On the main altar, there are two painting separated with a cross. They date back to the end of the 19th century. They depict St.Barbara and St.Matthew.

Goczałkowice-Zdrój
Kapias Botanical Gardens

Goczałkowice-Zdroj

These Botanical Gardens have wonderful sections to visit an to enjoy, among them: the Autumn Garden, the Winter Garden, the Spring Garden, the Summer Garden, the Village Garden, the Scandinavian Garden, the English Garden, the Japan se Garden, the Romantic Garden, The Linden Alley, and the Mediterranean Alley. In addition, there are fountains and a children’s playground.

The botanical gardens have a multitude of species and varieties of coniferous and deciduous trees and shrubs, creepers, perennials, bulbs, rhizomes, fruit trees and shrubs, annual plants.

Goczalkowice-Zdrój

According to the entrance plaque, this garden center was founded in 2003. There is a huge store, where you can choose anything you might need for your garden and for the interior decoration of your home, office or other objects.
The admission to the Gardens is free all the year round.

Szczyrk
Chata Wuja Toma/Uncle Tom’s Cottage

Uncle Tom's Cabin Restaurant & Hotel, Szczyrk

Uncle Tom's Cabin Restaurant and Hotel, Szczyrk

Szczyrk, known as the ski capital of Poland, has plenty of attractions to offer, and Uncle Tom's Cottage is one of them. The cottage was set up in an old traditional wooden farmhouse dating to 1918 and located on the Karkoszczonka Pass. The place was set up as a stylish highlander cottage This quiet and peaceful place is located at 736 m above sea level.

In hostel was established at this place in 1925. They used a clearing below the Błatnia Peak for that. The construction of the hostel was initiated by the "Friends of Nature" Tourist Society. As a result of hostilities of the Second World War, it was largely destroyed. Its reconstruction and renovation took place from 1945 until 1962. Now it is a high-end shelter, enjoying its well-deserved popularity for years. There are has 60 beds in the rooms for two, four, six, eight, and ten guests.
We saw the cottage was quite popular for companies of bikers, pensioners, students, etc. There is a souvenir store and a restaurant here. The inn is a traditionally preserved, eighteenth-century cottage, where the recipes of old Polish cuisine are cultivated.

White Cross Memorial, Szczyrk

At White Cross mountain pass, Szczyrk_2

White Cross ,mountain pass, Szczyrk

While strolling around the cottage, we visited the historic fraternity cross of Evangelists and Catholics.
The cross was sanctified by Pope John Paul II on May 22, 1995.

White Cross mountain pass, 940 m, Szczyrk

Highlander's Restaurant, White Cross mountain pass, Szczyrk_15

Highlander's Restaurant, White Cross mountain pass, Szczyrk

The Salmopolska Pass, commonly known as the White Cross, is one of the well-known places in the vicinity of Szczyrk. There is a cross several meters high here, which was consecrated on May 22, 1995 by John Paul II in Skoczów. The name was adopted earlier, however, because originally a cross made of birch stood here. In addition, the nearest peak in the area is called the White Cross (940 m above sea level).
The Salmopolska Pass is located at an altitude of 934 m above sea level. and is a great vantage point.

Bikej Café at White Cross Memorial
This is a coffeeshop located on the picturesque Salmopolska Pass, known as the White Cross.

Bikej Cafe, Szczyrk

Bikej Cafe, Szczyrk

The owners make great and offer homemade pastries to it.

At Bikej Cafe, Szczyrk

Zapora Wisła Czarne
Lake Czerniańskie is an artificial reservoir built in 1973. It is in the Wisła Czarna, where the Biała River joins the Czarna Wisełka river.

Wisła

The lake is a retention facility and is also a reservoir of drinking water. The dam above the reservoir is 30 meters high and 280 meters long. It is not only a useful structure, but also a tourist attraction treated as a promenade. Many tourists visiting Wisła are taken to this place that is considered a must as one the greatest attractions of the Vistula.

Mała Zapora
Wiślańska Niagara/The Niagara Falls of the Wiśla
You can see a high, 8-meter stone dam and a waterfall. The dam was built on the Wisełka stream in Beskid mountains in the fifties of the 20th century.

Wisła Waterfall

Wisła Waterfall

Here there are also fish passes - a system of small water thresholds that allow the fish to migrate along the river.
We could not resists taking some pictures and posing for a picture here.

Wisła Czarne
The residence of the President of the Republic of Poland in Wisła is called "The Castle". The residence is an avant-garde work of the Polish architectural and artistic thought from the interwar period. The presidential residence is located in the village of Wisła Czarne, at the foot of the Barania Góra mountain, near the source of the Vistula.

President's Residence, Wisła

The Castle of the President of the Republic of Poland is in Cieszyn Silesia at the springs of the Vistula. It was built between 1929 and 1930 on the spot of a burnt wooden hunting castle of the Habsburg family. It was a gift from the People of Silesia for the President of the Republic of Poland Ignacy Mościcki and his successors.

The Lower Castle Museum

President's Residence, Wisła_museum

In 1994, it became a national heritage monument. Now this complex includes the Castle, as the historical residence of the President of the Republic of Poland Igancy Mościcki, the historical wooden chapel dating to 1909, the Lower Castle along with the Ranger Station. People call this residence “zameczek” (“little castle”). Perched atop the hill, the Little Castle lies in a mountainous, densely forested area. It is surrounded by a 16-hectare landscape park.
The Castle is open for sightseeing, but we had no time and decided that we could pay a visit there some other day. We admired the Castle from the Lower Castle, where we sat for a while enjoying the majestic views.

Wisła Malinka
There is a ski jump named after Adam Małysz in this area. It was built in 2003–2008, on the site of the previously existing "Malinka" ski jump.

Wisła Malinka Ski Jump

Wisła Malinka Ski Jump

This place is also known for its modern ski resort called "Ski Lifts Klepki Wisła Malinka" operating since 2014. This resort has, among others, a four-seater chairlift.

Ustroń
Robbers’ Cottage/Zbójnicka Chata Restaurant

This amazing place is located at the altitude of 790 m above sea level. It is a gastronomic and accommodation facility. We enjoyed the enchanting panorama of the Silesian Beskids, the mountains of Czantoria, Stożek, Barania and many others in the Vistula river valley. They say that in good visibility and favorable weather, you can admire the peaks of the distant Tatra Mountains from this place.

Zbójnicka Chata Restaurant, Ustroń

Zbójnicka Chata Restaurant, Ustroń

Zbójnicka Chata Restaurant, Ustroń

We had dinner at Zbójnicka Chata Restaurant that serves Górolski (highlanders’) dishes and drinks, among them Robbers’ pork chop from the grill, smoked pork neck, Górolski style cake, brook trout on a stick, homemade sausage on fire, trout in herbs, etc.
Thanks again, dear Matt and Urszula!

We also had dinner at Carol's Restaurant in Ustroń during our second tour of southern Silesia.

At Carol's Restaurant, Ustron