Płock - Czerwinsk

Today we followed the Vistula further along its course as it winds its way to the Baltic Sea. This great river has been the reason the towns and villages we have visited came into existence. Through the river they grew, became wealthy, were fought over and thrived. 

The Vistula River and Plock Castle  and Cathedral in the background. 

We started out by looking for the Modlin Castle ruins. This castle was ordered to be built by Napoleon at the confluence of the Vistula and the Narew rivers. It was later expanded by the Russians in 1830 to accommodate 26,000 men and destroyed during WWII! It seems to be a recently neglected army base by the looks of the rusted weaponary still lying about. 

It wasn't long before we were on our way further along the Vistula to Czerwińsk nad Wisla, the home of an ancient church complex. Czerwinsk was settled by monks in the 12th century, brought in by the King to hurry the conversion of this part of Poland to Christianity. Today the monastery welcomes visitors to look around the property including the very ornate Small Basillica. 

The monastery church at Czerwińsk nad Wisla.

Beautiful mosaic on the outside of the church. 

The township at the bottom of the hill was interesting, with obvious attempts currently at renewal, but it is obvious that this predominately timber building village has seen a lot of history! 

Ancient timber houses around the village of Czerwińsk nad Wisla. 

Our major destination today was the city of Płock. Płock is the oldest urban settlement in this part of Poland, and in the 11th century it became the seat of Polish Kings. So a little pedigree on its side! It flourished with Baltic-bound trade route and important prince-bishops followed the royals into the town. Mid 17th century the Swedes invaded and the Płock felt the full impact with the Bishop's very valuable  library and archives being taken to Sweden where they remain to this day!

The Stare Miasto (Old Town) was relaxing and worth the visit. Its building frontages obviously  don't match those of the much larger cities but, still, they had a charm and attractiveness which was being enjoyed by many. The cobbled stone side streets were the location of many more restaurants and bars being enjoyed by visitors. 

The market square in Płock. 

Stylish merchant houses surround the market square. 

The attractive square in Płock. 

Some buildings have yet to face the renovator!

Attractive sculptures are dotted around the city. Does this resemble a peanut farmer from Queensland?

At the cathedral we came across our first wedding for the day - normally on Saturdays we come across two or rhree weddings. The cathedral was commenced in the 11th century but has been changed  considerably over the centuries. The twelfth century bronze doors are considered to be the high point of interest - given the story of how they went missing for six centuries and only rediscovered in 1970.

Płock's cathedral. 

The cathedral's beautiful stain glass and the panels of the ancient bronze doors. 

Wedding wine and glasses at the ready at the rear of the cathedral awaiting the bride and groom. 

Late in the day we drove on a few kilometres to our over night stop in the village of  Soczewka. 

And one last photo from today:

 

Warsaw

I couldn't believe it, but this morning we had the heater on whilst having breakfast! No rain overnight - what a surprise! - but certainly much cooler. 

The beautifully reconstructed Stare Miasto (Old Town). 

Getting into Warsaw early was our goal in order to get a parking spot near the old town - having done some homework on this we were pleasantly surprised to get a parking spot just around the corner from the Barbican and the entrance to the old town.

Plac Zamkowy - Royal Castle on the right and the column of King Sigismund III, the king who made Warsaw his capital. 

The Market Square has been totally reconstructed after being destroyed at the end of WWII. It is reported that some old citizens claim it to be perhaps closer to the Middle Ages centre than pre-war because the plans for the rebuilding were taken from the original baroque plans. 

You can't help but make comparisons when walking around Warsaw, realising that it was totally destroyed at the end of the war on the orders of Hitler. The reconstruction is mind blowing. This is the case for most communities that experienced this level of destruction ie Dresden.

The Royal Castle in 1945 and 2016. 

The Rynek ( Market Square) 1945 and 2016. 

We attended a baroque organ recital at the beautiful St Anne's Church by a Polish virtuoso - the church was particularly enjoyable! 

St Anne's Church, one of the most beautiful in Poland.

Having exhausted ourselves around the Old Town we drove to the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising. I can understand how Poles could remain angry for generations after a history like theirs. The museum is such a moving experience that it can't help but leave a lasting impression. A pattern of human slaughter was perfected by both the Nazis and the Stalinists. 

A view of the museum. 

Everyday Poles going about their business in 1939. 

The politics of the allied forces also leaves a lot to be desired - they basically abandoned the Poles in the hours of need. It is often said that WWII didn't end for the Poles in 1945 but went in for another 45 years! 

It was late Friday afternoon when we left Warsaw - very stupid as we were caught up in Friday afternoon traffic jams on our way to the village of Łomna for our overnight stop. 

Some more images of the day:

A beautiful shop front on the Market Square. 

A small business woman!

Again, some very fine galleries around the city. 

King Sigismund III and his Polish soccer scarf!

Horse and carriage entering the old town through the reconstructed barbican. 

Map of the carve-up of Poland after 1945. 

Some buildings have never recovered. 

A little windy!

Vistula River Jaunt

Today we decided to mosey along the Vistula towards Warsaw. Some interesting experiences along the way - the closer we get to Warsaw the busier it becomes.

The stork is a subject of many European folklore and it is treated regally throughout Poland. Because industrialisation had caused a dramatic decline in stork numbers many European countries now provide nesting poles for the birds. In the picture on the right the power authorities provide an extra platform on their poles for the birds to nest - it also saves on electrical blackouts because of storks building nests on the wires. 

After the torrential rains again last night we were a little slow out of the blocks again this morning. But when we got under way we shopped at Deblin, housing a Polish Airforce base, before following the Vistula to Maciejowice. 

At Maciejowice we sought out the area where the Battle of Maciejowice took place in which the Polish hero 

Tadeusz Kościuszko was finally wounded and captured by the Russians. After this battle the final partition of Poland was enacted and Poland ceased to exist for the next 123 years. 

The now derelict manor house in the grounds where the Battle of Maciejowice took place, plus artefacts from the museum.  

A memorial to Kościuszko where the battle took place. The inscription reads: "Place of the last battle of the head of the Polish nation""

Having found this we then visited the Kościuszko museum in Maciejowice. Although all in Polish it visually told the story of his importance in Polish heritage as well as in American history. 

Kościuszko's bust in the museum. 

We followed the river road where we had some interesting detours because of new road reconstructions, on one detour I don't think I have ever been on a worse road! Finally we emerged at Marianskie Porzecze a little shaken and a little lost.

But you can get lucky: firstly we pulled over in front of this magnificent 18th century wooden church, and secondly a very helpful Pole could see we were questioning our GPS and stopped his car and came over to assist- fortunately he did because there was another detour which we could have missed and ended up goodness knows where.

St Mary's 18th century wooden church. 

The very colourful interior. 

This detour took us through vast estates of Apple orchards. We drive for over 15 km and all we could see were orchards. It appeared to be a fairly recent industry because there were many young trees mixed with older trees. At the end of the drive was one colossal packing shed. 

Some of the acreages of apple orchards. 

New plantings mixed with older trees. 

Along the way were  many heavily laden cherry trees, neither man nor bird seemed interested in them.

We drove on for a few kilometres to the village of Celestynow for our evening stop. 

A day that promised little but delivered an abundance. 

Puławy

It seemed an inordinate amount of time doing the every day things this morning. Taking onboard fresh water, diesel, refilling the gas cylinders and buying more general supplies all took time. 

The Palace of the Czartoryskich. 

Puławy was almost completely destroyed during the WWII but like so many other Polish and German towns reconstruction have given these centres a new lease of life. The main site worth visiting was the Pałac Czartoryskich, the family estate of the powerful aristocratic family. This Polish dynasty made their family base in Puławy in the early 1730s, especially Prince  Adam Czarytoryski and his wife Izabela. They were great patrons of the arts and gathered together a very notable art collection. With the partition of Poland in the middle of the 1700s their son had to flee Poland and later the art collection followed him. Much later it was returned to Poland and is now housed in a museum in Krakow. 

Entrance to the palace. 

Copies from the original art collection. 

Painting of Izabela Czartoryski. 

An interesting Australian connection: the sabre and image-plate of Tadeusz Kościuszko. 

The setting of the palace provides a balance to the rest of the city which is very much an industrial city with key chemical industries  forming the basis of the economy. Today it is the worlds largest producer of melamine. 

 

Delightful park surrounding the palace. 

With some interesting structures in the park. 

Later in the afternoon we traveled a few kilometres to the village of Gołab to visit the 17th century church and here we decided to stay for the rest of the afternoon and night. The village is on the Vistula River. It was here that the Polish army defeated the Swedes in 1672!

Church of St Florin and St Catherine. 

Nałeczów and Kazimierz Dolny

More thunder storms overnight but by morning it had all dried up and the temperature was soaring. 

We visited some splendid galleries today. 

After some housekeeping chores we were on our way to the spa town of Nałeczów. The town was made famous during the 19th century when esteemed writers, artists and Prime Ministers came here for the quality of the air and water, laying the foundations for the resort to become very popular. The very pleasant environment, the parks and the whole wellness industry still makes it a popular resort today. 

Beautiful parklands ....

.... and lakes ...

... even a royal summer residence (now part of the spa industry) 

... and a swan and her cygnets.

After a very pleasant morning in the park we decided to drive on to Kazimierz Dolny for lunch and the afternoon. Kazimierz Dolny is a village on the banks of the mighty Vistula River. The river has been critical to the town throughout time, with it being the most important trading route from the south through to the Baltic  Sea. 

It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. For the past two hundred years artists have been drawn to the town because of the light and the ancient buildings. In more recent times it has been very popular with film and tv producers. 

Beautiful wood paintings.

Stunning pottery.

Fabulous paintings. 

And very original creative pottery characters. 

Kazimierz Dolny is linked very closely to 14th century King, Kazimierz the Great (1333-1370) of whom it is said, "he found a wooden Poland and left a Poland of stone". He sponsored the great trading towns along the Vistula and encouraged Jewish traders to settle in the towns. Kazimierz Dolny grew wealthy based on this Royal support. 

The ornate burghers house shows the wealth that was generated through the river trade. 

The popular market square. 

The other church overlooking the market square. 

King of the square.

Wherever we go in Poland there always seems to be a display with an emphasis on tolerance, understanding and being accepting of all cultures. Again today a photographic display was again sending this same message.

Great achievers from other cultures on display. 

To end the day we drive on to Puławy with the intention of purchasing a new data card. You have got to love Poland: 4 gb of data for $AUD6.00!