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History and historic sites

Over the five centuries there were generations of Bojków, Polish and Jews living, they were living as in a melting pot. The World War II and then displace actions finished with the „Wisła” action irreversibly changed the face of bieszczadzki region. The indigenous inhabitants left the place together with the culture and settlement continuity. Strenuous efforts of the government from the past period to promote Bieszczady as a model plot of socialism collapsed because these climatic conditions unabled the cetral control of the agricultural economy. But at the same time Bieszczady, abandoned, deserted and destroyed, where the nature reigned taking back the areas which were so intensively exploited and hiding few traces of the past, became the Mecca for sensation seekers, tough guys and dreamers, for people with the past but without future. They came here from different parts of Poland, some of them resigned at the beginning, others were staying even forever. And that is why Bieszczady have become the special place, diverse, with many of new settlers, colourful with the colour of their existence and rich with the wealth of their dreams fulfulment.

You can see traditional wooden cottages here, past cemeteries or their remains, historic Orthodox churches and chapels which together with the picturesque mountains create the unique climate. There are lots of such buildings in the voivodeship. Most of them was gathered in the open-air ethnographic museums, including the Folk Building Museum in Sanok – the biggest one,as far as the area is concerned, in Poland. They have also become the inspiration for the „Wooden Architecture Trail”.

The wooden architecture trail is  3037 km, where 9 trails with the whole length of 1202 km go through the podkarpackie voivodeship area. Together it is 448 buildings in all voivodeships, and 127 buildings in Podkarpackie. Two of them: the church in  Haczowa  from XV century, the oldest wooden church in Poland and at the same time the biggest wooden church in the Gothic style in the world, but also the rectory complex in Blizne with the wooden church from XVI centrury with the polychromy presenting the unique, so called the plebeian bible– they were registered on the list of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage  UNESCO.

The other most valuable sacred monuments of podkarpackie voivodship is: built in stone, defensive Orthodox church in  Posada Rybotycka, from  XV century and the oldest in Poland, monastic Orthodox church in  Ulecz from 1510 with the unique polychromy from  XV and XVI centuries.

The most interesting secular monuments are the Renaissance Leszczyński Palace in  Baranowów Sandomierski called „Little Wawel”, Lubomirski castle and Potocki palace in Łańcut– one of the best preserved aristocratic residences with the unique coachhouse and historic tree stand in the park in Europe, Krasicki castle in Krasiczyn – the next gem of the Polish Renaissance after the Wawel and Baranów Sandomierski, Kazimierzowski castle in Przemyśl, Lubomirski castle in Rzeszów, Lubomirski summer palace in Rzeszów.  

There are places in Podkarpackie that cannot be ommited, they have to be seen because they are unique in many ways: they were „witnesses” of important  events, and their traces survived until today; because the view spreading from that place can not be described with words; because the human has created something big there. There is a unique Hitler bunker in Stępino (gmina Frysztak, Strzyżowski poviat),  it is the only one in Europe, built by Germans during the World War II. There is the biggest and the most striking collection of kerosene lamps in Europe in Podkarpackie Museum in Krosno. There are lots of these kinds interesting things in the region, among others early medieval, monumental fortified settlement in Trznica, it is one of the most important and best preserved archeological monuments in Poland. It is going to be the archeological open - air ethnographic museum “Carpathian Troy” in three years time.

The theme trails can be a wonderful adventure and a good history lesson, appealing to the historical, cultural and natural values of our voivodeship.

 We encourage to the walking tour on:

· The Good Szwejk Soldier Trail – it is the attempt of reconstruction the trail travelled by the main character of Jaroslav Hašek’s book. There are information boards with the outline of the trail, information about the details of Szwejk stay in these places and the connection with the Galicia history of the  Austro-Hungarian Empire times.

· The Pottery trail – it includes the past and the biggest pottery centers in Poland, where almost 120 ceramic workshops were working in the II half of the XIX century.

· The Osława valley and San valley icons trails– providing the walking tour on the trails of the valuable wooden architectural monuments in Bieszczady and Beskid Niski.

· The Oil trail, connecting the places of the oil industry birth and history.

· The Pope Trail  – commemorating the places of the great Pole from Magura Wątkowska to Komańcza.

· The Ancestral clusters of Lubomirski Trail going through the most interesting places with the aristocratic family in podkarpackie voivodeship in Poland and the preszowski district in Slovakia. The linking elements are the historical buildings from the  XVI to XIX centuries.

· „ Aleksander Fredro Tracks” Trail - 450 km rout going through the places connected with Fredro family, leading from the castle ruins "Kamieniec" on the border of Korczyna and Odrzykoń, through Korczyna, Krościenko Wyżne, Hoczew, Cisna, Lesko, border crossing Krościenko-Smolnica, Sambor, Rudki, Beńkowa Wisznia, Jatwięgi, Lubień Wielki, Lwów, Przyłbice, crossing border Szeginie-Medyka, Przemyśl, Surochów near Jarosławia, Nienadowa,to the  "Kamieniec" castle.

The project „Regions of Poland” was realized in cooperation with the Offices of the Presidents of the 16 regions of Poland.

Design, coordination, realization – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland

Contents – Offices of the Presidents of the Regions

Wykonanie:

• Akonet
• 3Web