Paths between the manor house, church and ponds

If you want to discover Czerwionka-Leszczyny through tangible traces of its history, you can choose from paths, buildings and a landscape of ponds, each offering a different focus. The places described range from the manor house park in Leszczyny to historic buildings and routes in Bełk and Palowice. The surrounding landscape, destination and stated route length are useful points of reference when making your choice.

The “Wśród leszczyn i śladów Bartelta” nature and history trail is in the Leszczyny district and is about two kilometres long. It leads from the manor house, known as the “Zameczek”, through the manor house park to a large pedunculate oak. A pond and a residential building known as the “Town Hall” lie beside the tree. This route brings together a park, water and historic landmarks.

Manor houses and local history

Leszczyny is home to a Neoclassical manor house known as the “Zamek”. Konrad von Bartelt had it built in 1882 on the site of an earlier wooden manor house. The date places the construction of the Neoclassical building in a specific period of local history, while its predecessor points to the manor house’s earlier history.

A 19th-century manor house building also survives in the Czerwionka district. It is surrounded by a park with a valuable collection of trees, a remnant of the former manor house park. While the history of the manor house in Leszczyny is described through its construction date and predecessor, Czerwionka’s surviving trees and remaining parkland take centre stage. Together, these places reveal different facets of manor house history, without conflating the two sites into a single building.

Educational trails with different destinations

The “Śladami Belka” educational trail starts in the centre of Bełk and is about 2.5 kilometres long. It leads to the historic wooden Church of St Mary Magdalene and Górka Lukasów hill, which was built in 1866. The church and hill offer two different historic points of interest along this route.

In Palowice, a 3.5-kilometre educational trail ends at the ruins of the “Waleska” ironworks, next to the Jesionka. Its destination is therefore different from the stops in Bełk: here, the ironworks ruins mark the endpoint, while that route leads to a wooden church and a hill. Each trail has its own focus, reflected in its destinations.

At about two kilometres, the trail in Leszczyny is the shortest of the three routes described. Next comes “Śladami Belka” at around 2.5 kilometres, followed by the educational trail in Palowice at 3.5 kilometres. If you are choosing by route length, the trails are easy to compare this way; however, their destinations differ just as clearly as their lengths. These figures describe route distances, not walking times.

Pond landscapes and places of remembrance

Along the Stawy Łańcuchowe, a trail in Palowice offers opportunities to observe different stages of aquatic succession and waterbirds. Some ponds are becoming heavily overgrown with marsh and woodland vegetation. The ponds reveal both changes in the water bodies and the plants that are increasingly shaping parts of their surfaces.

Another form of remembrance can be found along the Szlak Historii Górnictwa Górnośląskiego: in Leszczyny, the route passes a monument to 292 Auschwitz prisoners. They were murdered near Rzędówka railway station in January 1945 during the evacuation of the camp. Remembrance of the victims is central at this site, adding a grave historical dimension to the architectural and landscape themes.

Discover more destinations: Rybnik, Sumina, Czernica, Żytna, Jankowice Rybnickie, Zwonowice, Jejkowice, Bełk.

Back to the main travel overview: Rybnik.