The best family-friendly hikes and walks around powiat sokołowski

In the very heart of Węgrów, in the market square, stands a bench with the figure of Pan Twardowski. It is a symbolic point of the walk, where legend meets the city's history and its urban layout. For centuries, the Węgrów market square has been the center of life: trade, meetings, and events. It is surrounded by the most important buildings, including the monumental Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Węgrów, with which the most famous thread of the Twardowski story is associated – the mirror attributed to the sorcerer. From a geographical perspective, the market square lies on a slight elevation of the plateau, safely above the Liwiec valley. It was precisely this location that favored the establishment of cities: dry, stable, and at the same time close to the river, which provided water, fertile meadows, and communication routes. Sitting next to Twardowski in the market square, one can discern three layers of this place: • historical – the former layout of the chartered city, • legendary – the story of the sorcerer and the mirror in the basilica, • geographical – the relationship of the city with the Liwiec valley. This is a good starting point for a walk: from the center, where the meaning of Węgrów is concentrated, before the road leads towards the river and the open space of the valley.

On May 10, 1964, after years of preparations, the official, ceremonial unveiling of the monument commemorating the victims of German repression and crimes at the Treblinka I Labor Camp took place. The author of the monument was Franciszek Strynkiewicz – a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, who was the general designer of the entire spatial and architectural layout at the Treblinka Memorial Site. The monument in the clearing at the Execution Site refers to the execution wall in its appearance. It is built of blocks, the shape of which resembles drops of spilled blood. A recurring motif are four straight, vertical lines carved in the stone. They can be interpreted in various ways, e.g. as bullet marks or prisoner striped uniforms, although prisoners in the Treblinka I Penal Labor Camp did not wear striped uniforms. In front of the monument lies a slab with the inscription: "In tribute to the murdered". The entire monument is incorporated into the dark wall of the forest surrounding the clearing. On the path behind the monument there is a mound topped with a cross, which was built by school children in September 1947. It contains the bones of victims, which were collected at that time on the grounds of the former camp. This is the first commemoration of the Treblinka I Penal Labor Camp. The mass graves located in the forest surrounding the clearing with the main monument have been marked with concrete crosses. Individual crosses deep in the forest also mark other graves located there.

Monuments and cemetery in Treblinka

The Memorial to the Murdered Poles and the Memorial to the Murdered Sinti and Roma are located here. The mass graves were marked with concrete crosses, to which memorial plaques bearing the names of the murdered were symbolically attached.

Very emotional area on the sightseeing route

View from the bridge over the Liwiec River

In the Węgrów Market Square by the Municipal Public Library, a bench was placed on which Master Jan Twardowski sits holding a magic mirror, there is also an open book in which a text in Polish and English is written translating the Latin inscription on the mirror frame: "Twardowski played with this mirror, performing magic arts, now he is destined to serve God". The bench was made from a cast by the Kruszewski Brothers Bell Foundry in Węgrów. It refers to the legends of the famous Master Twardowski and the Twardowski Mirror, which is located in the Minor Basilica in Węgrów. The mirror was donated to the Węgrów church in the 18th century by the founder of the church, Jan Dobrogost Krasiński.

Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saints Peter, Paul, Andrew and Catherine in Węgrów – parish and collegiate church in Węgrów. Minor basilica since 1997.