The best traffic-free bike rides around Celestynów

The Forest Education Centre in Celestynów is one of the largest forest education centers in Poland. The complex includes the main center building with an exhibition and conference room, a campsite, a canteen, and a shelter for 70 people. The facility is owned by State Forests.

Quite a pleasant place, you can rest

The brickyard in Radzin was established around 1850 as part of the local manor. Initially, bricks were produced solely for the manor's needs, but over time the plant expanded its operations – residents of the surrounding villages began to buy bricks. In 1928, the characteristic brick chimney, towering over the trees, was erected, which dominated the area for years. Residential barracks for workers and their families were also built at the plant. The construction of the massive structures, especially between 1890 and 1930, was a laborious process involving the precise manual laying of hundreds of bricks, layer by layer, on increasingly higher wooden scaffolding. Specialist bricklayers, often risking their lives without adequate safety measures, ensured the perfect verticality and roundness of the structure, using lime mortar and occasionally steel hoops for increased stability. Such height was not an architect's whim – it was a key technological element, ensuring a strong, natural draft necessary for efficient combustion in brick kilns and for dispersing smoke and pollutants far from the plant, which, in the understanding of the time, was intended to protect the environment and human health in the immediate vicinity. The brickyard operated successfully until the tragic December of 1939, when history added a tragic chapter to its story. During the German occupation, in December 1939, an attack occurred in Celestynów on the home of the German Zommer family. In response, German gendarmes carried out a brutal reprisal. It was assumed that the perpetrators of the attack were residents of the settlement near the brickyard. 18 men were arrested (many of them former employees of the plant). The detainees were gathered near the train station. As we read in the memoirs of Władysław Święch, "among them was also Father Banasiewicz". Mrs. Zdziechowska, a resident of Celestynów and German by birth, who knew the priest, attempted to secure his release. In a dramatic gesture, she threw herself at the feet of a German officer, begging for mercy. Her desperate pleas were successful, as the priest was released, but the other men were led into the forest along Osiecka Street, where an execution took place. After this tragedy, the brickyard never resumed its operations.

Greenhouses, like greenhouses. I don't know what's interesting about it...

Łowisko Całowanie is a popular fish pond complex located directly on the edge of the Całowanie Marsh (Mazovian Landscape Park), about 40 km southeast of the center of Warsaw. It is an excellent place for both anglers and those seeking an escape into nature.

Trail signpost in the Masovian Landscape Park

Obelisk commemorating afforestation actions 1931-1934

As we read on the information board, the shrine was erected in 2004 on the initiative of the residents of Karczew, and the wooden figure was consecrated on November 17, 2004. For over twenty years, the sculpture has welcomed walkers, cyclists, and all forest lovers, becoming a place for reflection, quiet prayer, and contemplation. This representation holds a special place in Polish tradition. Christ the Sorrowful was one of the most frequently recurring motifs in roadside shrines. It is in such simple, forest and field nooks that one can most strongly see how spirituality, folk art, and landscape have intertwined over the centuries into a single narrative. The author of the sculpture is Stefan Lisowski (1928–2010) - an artist and sculptor, also associated with Mazovia. According to the board, he was the initiator of the "Roadside Shrine" series of works and wanted to restore the motif of the wooden shrine to the Mazovian landscape. The Karczew figure is one such work - made from a single piece of wood. This is one of those places that one can pass by without knowing its history. Yet, it holds local memory, beautiful tradition, and the trace of a person who wanted to leave something lasting behind.