Zawada: Hiking Trails, Landscape and Culture

Zawada lies in the southern part of the Olkusz Upland (Wyżyna Olkuska) and within the Dolinki Krakowskie Landscape Park. Routes, natural features and local cultural stories shape what travellers encounter here.

Trails through Zawada

The green hiking trail through the Racławka Valley passes through Zawada on the section from Racławice to Zimnodół. The red Eagle’s Nests cycling route also passes through the village, but as a cycling route it is a different type of trail. The Transjurajski Szlak Konny PTTK follows a third route: from Zawada, it runs via Zederman and Przeginia towards the ruins of the 14th-century Rabsztyn Castle. The routes can therefore be distinguished by type and stated course: a valley hiking trail, a cycling route and a horse trail towards the castle ruins.

Landscape and Surroundings

Mining traces are also among the landscape features of the surrounding area. Mining remains, including a sinkhole that formed before the First World War, lie between Gorenice and Zawada. A group of five trees designated as natural monuments is also located near Zawada: lime trees, a beech and a horse chestnut. The group is about 200 metres from the junction towards Gorenice.

Between Zawada and the eastern settlement of Podlesie, a hill rises with a limestone rock outcrop. From there, the view extends across the Ojców Plateau. The surrounding area thus features various natural and landscape elements: protected trees, mining remains and a viewpoint with a limestone outcrop.

Culture and Remembrance in Zawada

Zawada is home to the imposing Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary (Matki Boskiej Różańcowej). Another architectural feature of the village is an old wooden house, number 40. The residents of Zawada erected a commemorative plaque for Polish non-commissioned officer Winkler, who fell in combat during the September Campaign of 1939. The chapel, wooden house and plaque represent different cultural and historical connections to the village.

In the Karczmiskiem part of the village, a local legend connects the area with a former inn on the historic route from Silesia via Sławków and Olkusz to Kraków. Travellers are said to have stopped or stayed there. The story brings together a former place to stop and a long-distance route by name; it is passed down as a legend.

Cultural Attractions in Olkusz

Olkusz is home to other, distinct cultural attractions. The Silver Juggler Trail is an educational and historical trail in Olkusz’s Old Town and includes 18 miner figures. More than 130 replicas of Olkusz trojaks are set into the pavement; these are coins bearing the likeness of King Sigismund III Vasa. The figures and coin replicas form distinct parts of the trail.

The Basilica of St Andrew in Olkusz is a Gothic church built at the turn of the 14th century. Its most valuable work of art is a late-15th-century Gothic winged altarpiece, one of only four such altarpieces in Poland. The Podziemny Olkusz exhibition includes a display in the cellars of the former 14th-century town hall. A second exhibition is located in the cellars of the former Royal Quarter, once the seat of the Olkusz mining authorities.

Art collections are also among Olkusz’s cultural attractions. The GSW BWA permanent exhibition comprises around 300 works of contemporary Polish art, mainly paintings, prints, sculptures, ceramics and photography. The Museum of the Works of Władysław Wołkowski is housed in the historic 19th-century Machnicki Manor and holds the largest collection of his works in Poland.

Discover more destinations: Bukowno, Małyszyce, Klucze, Osiek, Golczowice, Zabagnie, Wolbrom, Dłużec

For the broader travel overview: Olkusz.