Easy hikes and walks around Płońsk

For those interested in garrison architecture. The building is impressive.

The gate was built in 1837. It was located in the curtain wall between Bastions III and IV. The gate is single-story, constructed of brick with reinforced ashlar elements. It was guarded by two artillery positions in two openings on the sides. It received a neo-Gothic façade on the exterior, with one decorative axe surviving to this day. The gate's external thresholds were located high above the fortress ditch at the edge of the ramparts. A wooden bridge once led to the gate, of which only 16 brick pillars remain. The bridge curved slightly closer to the gate so that the gate and the bridge were not aligned during firing. General Dąbrowski Street once began at the bridge. The gate is now a ruin.

To commemorate the heroic struggle, the Monument to the Defenders of Modlin from September 1939 was erected. The unveiling was performed by the commander of the 1939 Modlin defense, Brigadier General Wiktor Thommee, in the presence of numerous soldiers from his September campaign. The ceremony took place on September 29, 1957, the anniversary of the surrender of Modlin Fortress. The initiative to build the monument came from the command of the 15th Bomber Division, and its design was presented by Sergeant Ryszard Lasota, a non-commissioned officer of the Military Police. Two Soviet cannons were added to the monument. The motive was the Red Army's participation in the liberation of Modlin from Nazi occupation. The monument was erected on the site of a monument to Marshal Józef Piłsudski, unveiled in 1928, which was destroyed only in the early 1950s when the Marshal's bust and baton were removed from its pedestal. Until the unveiling of the next monument, this place was forgotten and neglected.

The Officers' Casino building was built around 1906, designed by an unknown Russian architect, with the collaboration of architect Piotr Leon Krasiński. It features a defensive architectural style with residential features. The T-shaped building was very modern considering the period in which it was built. It was the first in the fortress to have electric lighting powered by a generator and central heating powered and supplied by steam heated in a boiler room. This heating system was a rather unique solution. It was similar to what we would today call air conditioning. The designed system provided for the supply of fresh air and the exhaust of stale air, as evidenced by the mesh-covered intake openings and the openwork exhaust rings located near the outer chandeliers in today's auditorium. However, what most captivates visitors today is its decor and the historical interior furnishings. The balustrades, chandeliers, staircase, ceramic floors, and window and door joinery, all of which are characterized by exquisite craftsmanship, have survived to this day.

The Modlin Fortress power plant was commissioned in 1924 in a classicist building on the Narew River opposite the "White Tower." The first 220 V DC generator powered a 200 hp steam engine. A few months later, a second generator, this time a three-phase 5 kV AC generator, was commissioned, and by the end of the year, an 8 km-long power line was put into operation. In the following years, the power plant was gradually modernized, adding two combustion engines fueled by heavy fuel oil and two generators, increasing its power and voltage to 6.5 kV. At the same time, the power line was expanded, as the Modlin power plant also supplied power to the city of Nowy Dwór. The power plant operated until the mid-1950s. Only the expansion of the state power grid and the incorporation of the fortress and the city into its structure brought its operations to an end. To this day, the power plant building and the fuel oil tank have been preserved in relatively good condition; unfortunately, the engines and generators located in the building were vandalized and stolen.

The Open-Air Museum of Forest Architecture – a small open-air museum (three farmsteads) in the village of Granica near Kampinos. It largely represents the vanished wooden folk architecture of the Kampinos Forest. It is part of a small section of the once planned Ethnographic Park. It is part of the Jadwiga and Roman Kobendz Educational and Museum Center, part of the Kampinos National Park. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skansen_budownictwa_puszcza%C5%84skiego_w_Granicy https://kampn.gov.pl/osrodek-dydaktyczno-muzealny-w-granicy

It is a three-story defensive gate dating from 1836, with a central passageway above ground level. During World War I or earlier, a second passageway was constructed in this gate. Later, the narrow-gauge railway tracks were laid through it, running along the Narew River. On the exterior, the gate was equipped with pairs of embrasures on both sides of the passageway on the ground floor and six artillery axes on the first floor. The parapets of all the embrasures are made of stone. The interior of the "Ostrołęcka" Gate features classical architectural features. On this side, the second floor features three semicircular windows, and the arched passageway is framed by pairs of Ionic pilasters. Source: https://www.nowydwormaz.pl/100,brama-ostrolecka

Metal stairs leading to the "White Blocks." Possible missing steps!