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Attractions near Krynica

TYLICZ

Mofetta

The Tylicz mofetta is located on the grounds of the Domki w Lesie (‘Houses in Forest’) tourist village. Open to visitors only on Tuesdays and Saturdays, from 9.00 a.m. till 4.00 p.m.

Mofetta is a volcanic gasses discharge (chiefly carbon dioxide with small amounts of other gasses). The Tylicz mofetta is confined within eleven concrete well rings, each ca. 1 m across and 1 m deep. It has over 50 gas discharge points underwater and on dry soil, named in Polish after the sounds they produce. The underwater ones are called ‘bulgotka’ (literally: bubbler) and the dry ones are called ‘dychawka’ (lit: panters, from ‘dyszeć’ = ‘to pant’). Bubblers look like boiling muddy soup, while panters are just vents from which gas spreads with a quiet hiss. The local folk (mainly Lemkos) viewed mofettas as places where the hell breathed out, and they had some justification for that. Water which looks like it is boiling and is cold at the same time does not seem natural. In addition, the carbon dioxide gas is heavier than air, so on windless days it accumulates in hollows in the ground. As it is lethal, you can see dead insects and small animals by the mofettes. Reportedly water in each of the well rings differs slightly in taste.

It is surprising to get to know that the Tylicz mofetta was to play its part in the cold war space race. When the US and the Soviet Union fought the race, one of the problems they had was ensuring food for astronauts during long missions. One of the ideas to do that was to farm edible algae in the outer space, using photosynthesis and carbon dioxide which is breathed out by the crew. For this reason in the 1960’s in Tylicz the communist government set up a research facility which was to examine the possibility of producing algae using natural carbon dioxide sources. Officially, the algae was to be used as fodder for farm animals. Carbon dioxide discharge points were confined with concrete well rings, above which the gas was being caught and transported through pipes to containers where algae were being grown. The programme resulted in an edible product which, however, was rather useless and had unpleasant aftereffects when eaten. Reportedly it caused diarrhoea. There was an official release saying that algae were no good for fodder, so the facility was closed and the mofetta was filled up with soil. It was only in 2011 that thanks to EU funds it was uncovered and made available to tourists.

Ski routes

Ski routes are located to one side of Wolności Street, on the route from Tylicz to Powroźnik, in areas surrounding the Poprad River Landscape Park. The length of all the Tylicz ski routes is over 5 km. The Tylicz Ski Station offers you separate areas for ski students, with baby-ski lifts. You can reach the slopes (there are two: the northern and the southern one) by chairlift or T-bar lift. On the smaller slope (Gościniec), due to its parameters and lighting, you can also ski after sunset. Guests have at their disposal a good infrastructure of ski equipment hire points, skiing schools, restaurants and fast-food points. It is worthwhile noting that according a ranking of best skiing stations in Poland in 2015 run by www.skionline.pl, Tylicz came third in the category of ski stations with up to 6-km-long skiing routes.

Further details (in Polish) and live cam feed from the slopes at  www.tylicz-ski.pl.

Farma LaMa

Farma LaMa (LaMa Farm) is a big tourist farm whose main attraction is horses. However, guests (chiefly children) also get the chance to get acquainted with other domesticated animals such as goats, pigs, sheep, rabbits, geese, ducks, pigeons, collared doves, peacocks, quails and others. Adults can ride horses or take part in long horse trips, and the young ones can ride a pony. The farm organises horse-riding courses, bonfire parties, and integration trips. However, it also provides such attractions for children as goat milking, horse-drawn cart trips, sleigh rides, ‘indian village’, Hare and Hounds, and many others. Further details (in Polish) at www.farma-lama.pl.

Go-kart track

The go-kart track in Tylicz is located in Sportowa Street, at the grounds of the Przełęcz Sports Club. Open from 1 June to 30 September, from 2 p.m. till 8 p.m., Tue through Sun (closed on Mondays). In May, June, September and October you have to book your ride on the phone. The track works in summer at the grounds of a skating rink with the surface of 1800 m2. In winter they build a track at the football pitch with the surface of 6000 m2 (track width: 7 m). At that time both the track and the rails are made of snow. Track width: 5-6 m. Further details (in Polish) at http://www.tortylicz.pl and at phone no. +48 500-725-750.  

Swimming pool

In the Domki w Lesie (‘Houses in the Forest’) tourist village (Tylicz, ul. Wolności 1, on the Tylicz-Powroźnik route) there is an outdoor 10 x 20 m swimming pool surrounded on all sides with forest. Open in summer from 10:00 a.m. till 5 p.m. Details (in Polish) at www.domkiwlesie.pl.

1612 Parish Church and 1744 Orthodox Church

You can visit the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul from Wednesday to Saturday, from 9.00 a.m. till 6 p.m. The Orthodox Church (currently used as cemetery church) can be seen from Thursday to Saturday, from 9.00 a.m. till 6 p.m. On Sundays you can visit the two churches from noon to 5 p.m.

The parish church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Tylicz is one of the highlights of the wooden architecture trail in the Krynica-Gorlice region. Built on order by Bishop Piotr Tylicki in 1612, consecrated in 1661 by Bishop Mikołaj Oborski. It has a cabin construction and horizontally planked walls. In the main Rococo altar there is a painting of the Holy Mother with Child, also known as the Holy Mother of Tylicz, from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. There are five side altars, including two from the 17th century and two Rococo ones from the late 18th century. In the side altars it is worthwhile to note the painting of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne from the 17th century and a Veraicon (image of Christ’s face on the veil of Veronica) from the 18th century. Other interesting works are the painting of St Martin (probably 17th century), one of St John of Nepomuk (18th century), and the latest one (ca. 1950) of the Heart of Jesus by Czesław Lenczewski. In the church there are a late Baroque pulpit and a baptismal font, and a Rococo crucifix on a rood beam. You can also see numerous other paintings, procession floats and sculptures from various periods. The ceiling and walls are decorated with a polychrome made in 1960 by Kazimierz Morway and Kazimierz Puchała. Next to the church there is an 1803 belfry.

Next to the old church a new one was built. It is dedicated to the Name of Mary and built of stone, but its construction is close in style to old, wooden Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches of the region. Between the old and the new church there is a natural monument: a linden of ca. 350 years, with a trunk of ca. 5-meter circumference.

In the vicinity there is a Roman Catholic cemetery church which was in the past an Orthodox Church of St Cosmas built in the years 1738–1744. The church is one of the highlights of the Lemko Orthodox Churches Trail. After it was destroyed by a fire, it was rebuilt in 1780. It was constructed in the West Lemko style, with wood only, using the cabin log construction technique. It is a three-part building, with boarded walls. Roofed with three towers crowned with onion domes. Over the vestibule (part in the past used by women) there is a post-frame tower with sloping walls crowned with a doubled wooden dome with a tent base, with a blind lantern, a small cupola and a forged cross. It has one nave with late Baroque iconostasis from the 18th century. The nave is adjoined with two side chapels which in the past were used as ‘krilos’, i.e. rooms for singers (which were not to be found anywhere else in the Lemko region). It is worthwhile to see a polychrome of 1938 which refers to the 950th anniversary of the Christianisation of the Kiev Rus.

You can see 3-D panoramas of the churches at the site of the parish: www.parafiatylicz.pl/wnetrza-kosciolow.html.

Golgota

Next to the Name of Mary Church in Tylicz. Entrance free of charge, but symbolic donations to the parish are not frowned upon.

Golgota (in Latin: Calvary) is a hill near Jerusalem where criminals were executed. As Jesus Christ was crucified there, the name of Golgota is sometimes used as a synonym for the Passion, from His prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane to His crucifixion. The Tylicz parish priest, Marian Stach, decided to illustrate the Passion with a 25-meter-tall stone construction with Stations of the Cross. The Golgota resembles the Tower of Babel painted in the Renaissance by the Dutch master Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Around the tower there are Rosary paths between chapels whose roofs are joined with wire on which pieces of stones are threaded in such a way that they resemble the rosary. The construction includes a viewing terrace from which you can enjoy a panorama of Tylicz. It was built chiefly with local stone, but there are also 120 ‘stones from all over the world’ which were brought by pilgrims. That is to remind us that Jesus died for all men regardless of where they lived. In the area you can find monuments to great Poles, quotations from the Bible and from Polish great national poets. The Golgota is a place numerously visited by pilgrims and tourists. It makes you stop and think. It is also a living space, as new elements are being added all the time.

You can make a virtual tour at the Tylicz parish site: http://www.parafiatylicz.pl/wycieczka-po-golgocie.html.

MUSZYNA

History of Muszyna

The history of Muszyna is closely connected with a trade route going along the Poprad River from Poland to Hungary. The town was first mentioned in 1209, and it reportedly owes its name to moss growing on the banks of streams surrounding Muszyna (the Latin for moss is ‘mosci’). According to another theory the town was named after the nickname of a Cracow bishop, Jan Muskata. In 1288 the town was bequeathed in testament by Wysz Niegowicki (a Cracow schoolman) to Cracow bishops. In the 14th century king Władysław the Elbow-high incorporated the land into the royal domain as a result of his conflict with Bishop Muskata. Muszyna was granted town privileges during the reign of Casimir the Great. It was only in 1391 that king Władysław Jagiełło gave again the Muszyna domain (two towns and 35 villages) to the Cracow diocese. From that time the Muszyna region, also called the Muszyna State, was ruled by starostas (‘elders’) on behalf of Cracow bishops, and it enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. It had its own administration, military and courts. The most well-known starosta was Stanisław Kępiński, a friend of Jan Kochanowski and the hero of his epigram To the Starost of Muszyna (‘Oh, the Starost of Muszyna, you know wine so well...’). In the 15th century the land of the Beskid Sądecki mountains witnessed a large migration wave of Vlachs and Ruthenians from Transcarpathian Ruthenia and Rumania (the Vlach migration). Those immigrants, sometimes called the Lemkos, were being settled under Vlach Rights in mountainous lands which were difficult to farm. They were Orthodox Christians and left wooden Orthodox churches (tserkovs). The Starosty of Muszyna was owned by Cracow bishops until 1781 when as a result of the Partitions of Poland it was transferred to Austria. From that time on it was gradually losing its importance.

Muszyna became a spa resort in the 1920’s thanks to the efforts of Mayor Antoni Jurczak and Doctor Seweryn Mściwujewski. In 1930 it joined the Union of Polish Spa Resorts. In 1932 first wells for mineral water were drilled. The first wells were named Antoni (after the first name of Mayor Jurczak) and Wanda (after the first name of Doctor Mściwujewski’s wife).

The Nazi German occupation left all spa equipment completely destroyed. The town returned to spa resort activity only in 1958. It is used mainly by patients with respiratory and digestive tract ailments.

Sensory gardens

The sensory gardens (also called ‘gardens of senses’) are located in Muszyna’s Zapopradzie health resort district. Entrance free of charge, 24/7, all year round. Inside information boards in Polish, English and Czech, as well as text written with the Braille alphabet.

The idea behind a sensory garden is to select plants, landscape and architectural elements in such a way as to enhance the visitor’s perception of nature with all his senses, not just with the sight. Thanks to that, disabled persons have an opportunity to perceive nature more intensely and diversely than in regular gardens. Non-disabled persons, on the other hand, have a chance to not only enjoy their leisure and have some rest, but also to better understand how disabled persons perceive their world. You can do that simply by closing your eyes and concentrating on sounds, smells, and touch. In this way sensory gardens are beneficial for the integration of the handicapped. The garden may be used for therapy, socialisation and education of blind persons as well as those with psychophysical disorders or with intellectual disability. The use of gardens for therapy has its own, scientifically sounding name: hortitherapy. Everyone can have some rest and relax thanks to contact with nature and other, friendly people, in this unusual place. There are wide paths which are comfortable to use for mothers with strollers and persons on wheelchairs. The gardens are a perfect place of education and fun for children.

The sensory gardens of Muszyna are a beautiful park with numerous cycling and walking paths, a cascading stream, stylish lanterns, etc. You will find there a few thematic zones dedicated to health, smell, sound, taste, and taste and touch combined. You can enter the health garden through a rose alley from Mściwujewskiego Street. There are many exercise machines where you do not need to put in much effort, so that also aged persons may keep fit as they are admiring the garden. You can find here such plants as roses, thujas, spruce, maple and hornbeam. In the smell garden there are plants with intensive smells, so that the garden becomes a herbarium which you can read with your nose. Apart from strong-scenting trees and flowers (hyacinths, lilies, spruces and firs) you will meet spices known from your kitchen: thyme, mint, sage and garlic. We advise you to close your eyes and rub some leaves in your fingers so that you get a stronger scent of essential oils. Try to guess which scent means which plant (this is great fun especially for children!). In the sound garden all materials were selected in view of the sounds they produce. Here you can concentrate on the crunch of gravel under your feet or people stamping across a wooden bridge, the murmur of water in the stream, or the singing of birds. We should remember than the blind get their bearings in space mainly with sound and touch, so that here we can try to understand better how they perceive the world. Further on you can enter the garden of smell and touch. It is easy to guess that it is those two senses which were highlighted. Plants were selected in such a way that their flowers and leaves not only smell nicely, but also are diverse to the touch. Finally, there is the taste garden. If you are lucky and get there at the right time, you can have a chance to taste cherries, raspberries, chokeberries or apples. If you come more often, you have the chance to see the vegetation cycle of plants you mainly see in your plate.

At the highest spot in the park there is a tower with a viewing platform (a lot of stairs, but you can get some rest on the way). You can get there a splendid view of Muszyna and the Beskid Sądecki mountains, and in good weather even get a glimpse of the Slovak Tatras.

It is interesting to know that newlyweds have a chance to plant their own love tree which (hopefully) will grow in time with their marriage. You can also plant trees if you celebrate your round marriage anniversary (10th, 20th, etc.).

Magical Garden – Leisure ponds

The Magical Garden is located in Muszyna’s Zapopradzie health resort district, by Zdrojowa Alley and behind the Antoni mineral water source. Entrance free of charge, 24/7, all year round.

The Magical Garden is a 27 000 m2 park with scenic ponds. As it hosts 10 unique sandstone sculptures, it resembles slightly ancient Greek or Roman gardens with mythological statues. The best (un)saint patron of the garden would be Aphrodite represented by one of the sculptures. Other works portray other mythological figures: Adonis (beloved by Aphrodite, god of the dying and rebirth of nature), Hebe (daughter of Zeus and Hera, goddess of youth), Thalia (daughter of Zeus and muse of comedy), Antiope (a beautiful woman, kidnapped by Zeus who took on the shape of a Satyr for that occasion), Canephora (woman bearing a basket with offerings to gods during processions in ancient Greece), the seasons (one sculpture bearing a strong resemblance to Dionysos). The Magical Garden takes on a special charm in the evening, when they light an illumination and the ponds are made alive with artificial geysers.

Biblical Gardens

Muszyna, Kościelna Street, by the Church of St Joseph the Betrothed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Entrance free of charge. Open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m., on Sundays from 9 a.m. till 10 p.m. Mondays closed. It is possible to have a guided tour (duration ca. 45 min.) at full hours.

The Biblical Gardens are a small park composed in 2013 into its historical surrounding: a 1729 Baroque parish church, a brick belfry and wall, a chapel with a sculpture (17th century), the old parish presbytery (19th century). The park (ca. 1 hectare of surface) has plants known from the Bible or growing in the Holy Land: palms, olive trees, papyrus, vine, but also wheat, thistle and roses. The gardens are designed to be an oecumenical space meant not only for relaxing among plants, but also for meditation and prayer. They were designed following the convention of three temples: one of Jerusalem, one St Joseph the Betrothed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and one of the messianic times. There are five gardens, one each dedicated to the history of salvation, biblical landscapes, teachings of the prophets, Biblical Garden for Children, and The Garden of Lovers. The plants, quotes and objects in the gardens all refer to the Bible. For example, in the Garden of Lovers you will find quotes about love, marriage and children. Some of the objects are: a small pond with a basket representing the one in which Moses was put as a baby and into a river, the burning bush, Mount Tabor, the Cenacle, the Holy Sepulchre, etc.

Orthodox Church in Powroźnik

Group visits only (at least 8 persons) upon previous booking (phone no. +48 694 292 927).

The Orthodox Church of St James the Less the Apostle in Powroźnik is the oldest Lemko shrine in Poland and one of the oldest ones in the Carpathians. Constructed in 1600, after a flood it was relocated uphill, to a place ca. 150 m away from the original site. That took place in the years 1813-1814, with some changes to the church construction. A new presbytery was built, and the old one was changed to a sacristy. In 1878 a main, post-frame construction tower was added. After World War II most Lemkos were relocated under Operation Vistula (forced resettlement of Ukrainians, Boykos and Lemkos from south-eastern Poland to the territories in the west regained from Germany – which was to cut the support base for the Ukrainian UPA guerrilla). As there were very few Orthodox minority left, in 1951 the church was taken over by the Roman Catholic church. In 1965 the building was renovated. In 2013 the church was entered, along with a number of other Orthodox churches in Poland and Ukraine, on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The building, like other West Lemko shrines, consists of three parts. It has one nave and is built of wood following the cabin log construction technique. In the presbytery there is a ceiling with a bezel. In the sacristy a cradle-shaped ceiling. The outside walls and the roof are covered with wood shingles. The building is crowned with three onion domes with blind lanterns. Inside it is worthwhile to pay attention to the 1637 polychrome and to the 17th century baroque main altar with a Mother of God with Child icon, as well as the iconostasis which now serves as a background to the altar. There are also other unique icons in side altars, a 1700 Rococo pulpit, and a 1615 church bell (as the legend has it, it can scare away thunderstorms). It is worthwhile paying attention to other icons: The Last Judgment of 1623 and The Lamentation of Christ of 1646. It should be noted that the building has windows only on its southern side. That protected the inside from northern snows and winds, while allowing the light to come in from the south.

Obrożyska Lime Forest

Obrożyska Lime Forest is ca. 1.5 km away from the centre of Muszyna. Entrance from Lipowa Street, free of charge.

The forest is a nature reserve created in 1919. Its surface is over 100 ha. It is located in the Poprad River Landscape Park and covers part of the Mikova hill over Muszyna. It is unique as it has the only fragment of a lime primeval forest in the Carpathians, considered to be a relic of the post-ice age (ca. 4000-2000 years B.C.). The prevailing plant species is small-leaf lime, but there are also firs, spruces and beeches. The oldest trees are over 200 years. The forest is full of sunlight and has a specific microclimate. You can meet there common wildlife species such as badgers, wild boars, deer or fox, but if you are lucky you can also see a wildcat or a clouded apollo (a butterfly which is very rare in Poland). The park is also home to the biggest number of fire salamanders in Poland. There is a 3-kilometer education route with information boards and resting spaces (time to walk: ca. 2 hrs).

Mofetta

According to the definition, mofetta is a discharge of cool (under 100 degrees Celsius) volcanic gasses composed mainly of carbon dioxide. The biggest and best known mofetta in Poland is located in the bottom of the Złocki Streem, between the towns of Jastrzębik and Złocki. Its full and official name is the Professor Henryk Świdziński mofetta, as named after a distinguished Polish geologists. It covers ca. 25 m2, and the gas discharged is assessed to be ca. 10 m3 per minute. It was declared a natural monument. The biggest gas discharge points are Dychawka (literally ‘Panter’, located on dry soil), Bulgotka (lit. ‘Bubbler’) and Zotopione (lit. ‘Drowned’) bubbling away underwater. You can reach the mofetta through comfortable stairs and bridges and read information boards. The reddish yellow colour of the water and the mud comes from a colloidal sediment of iron hydroxides which are the result of a hydrolysis of iron carbonate by iron bacteria. The colour contrasts nicely with the surrounding greenery. Such iron compounds were used in prehistoric times as dyes (ochre), and later as ore for smelting iron. It is interesting to note that according to Lemko legends the gas going out of the ground was the breath of hell. Such alleged involvement with evil powers could be understood as the gas is ca. 95% carbon dioxide, with small amounts of nitrogen and oxygen. The gas is lethal and on days without wind it accumulates close to the ground as it has higher density than air. Because of that you can see a lot of dead insects around. Reportedly there were cases when sheep came to drink water and suffocated. The Złockie mofetta is the largest one in Poland, but there are numerous, smaller ones in the area. Another interesting mofetta can be found in Tylicz.

Castle ruins and Baszta Park

Castle ruins in Muszyna can be visited at any time, free of charge.

The castle ruins are located on the southern slope of the Koziejówka Hill, on a steep rock called Baszta (‘Tower’) or Zamczysko (‘Big Castle’), on the right-hand side of the Poprad River and between its two tributaries: Muszynka and Szczawnik. Traces of the first, wooden gord at the location date back to the 11th century. The gord was reportedly built on order by Bolesław the Brave and abandoned in the late 14th century. There are differing opinions on when the castle (currently ruins) was built, but most sources indicate the 14th century, during the reign of king Casimir the Great. The castle watched over the Polish-Hungarian border and the trading route between the two countries which run along the Poprad River. For a long time the castle was home to starostas of the so-called Muszyna State (also called the Bishop Domain). In 1474 the castle was practically destroyed by the Hungarian king Mathias Corvinus. Under the ensuing peace treaty the Hungarians funded the castle’s reconstruction in Renaissance style. The Muszyna State was owned by Cracow bishops until the Partitions of Poland and enjoyed a wide administrative, military and judicial autonomy. In the 17th century, during the reign of king John II Casimir Vasa, the castle was still in use. In the late 17th century, during the first Partition, however, it was abandoned and started to decay. Reportedly Italian stone workers who built a tunnel in the nearby town of Żegiestów put their hand to the ruination, as they followed a legend of treasures buried there and blew out part of the walls. As of today only fragments of the southern wall and a bit of the tower remain standing.

The castle ruins are located in yet another of parks in Muszyna: the Baszta Park. It has the surface of ca. 12 ha and is close to the town centre. The park was designed mainly for sports and leisure. It has, in an area of ca. 200 m2, numerous outdoors exercise machines with basic exercises described. As the burden used is mainly one’s own body, they can be used by also by persons who are not very fit or elderly, and the risk of injury is very low. In the northern part of the park there is the Józef Mineral Water Drinking Point. At one of the entrances to the park you can also drink water at the Anna Source.

Wooden Architecture Trail

In the vicinity of Krynica it is worthwhile visiting the Lesser Poland Province Wooden Architecture Trail, orthodox churches of the historic Muszyna State, and the Krynica Lemko Orthodox Church Trail.

Rzeźby Wejście do obiektu Balkony Widok z balkonów