At Bolestraszyce Arboretum, plant collections meet a historic manor and garden estate. The natural history museum is housed in the manor house; Fort XIII b lies near the arboretum. The topics therefore range from botanical collections to birdlife and historic fortifications. For planning purposes, it is important to note that certain requests require prior arrangements or checking current visitor access.
Arboretum: Collections and Educational Trail
Bolestraszyce Arboretum was founded in 1975 and includes dendrological and pomological plant collections. Dendrology focuses on woody plants, while pomology focuses on fruit varieties and fruit growing. These two terms help explain the range of botanical topics: in addition to woody plants, fruit studies are also an explicitly named area of focus.
The arboretum includes the educational trail “Drzewa w Arboretum” (“Trees in the Arboretum”). It also includes an open-air museum featuring trunks of “black oak” and other trees and shrubs. The plant collections, the tree-related trail name and the display of trunks take different forms, but each addresses botanical topics. If you are particularly interested in trees, you can take these different areas of focus into account when planning what to see.
Manor House, Museum and Local History
The arboretum is situated on a historic manor and garden estate where Piotr Michałowski lived and worked in the mid-19th century. His time on the estate was well before the arboretum was founded in 1975. Thus, the earlier history of the estate and the later botanical institution fall into a clear chronological sequence.
The natural history museum is on the ground floor of the manor house. The exhibition “Chrońmy ptaki” (“Let’s Protect Birds”) presents native bird species that breed in Poland and groups them by habitat: deciduous and coniferous forests, fields, wooded areas, inland waters and seas. This arrangement makes the habitats a second point of reference alongside the bird species. If you are interested in birds, you can therefore explore the exhibition through its habitat themes as well.
Near the arboretum, Fort XIII b Bolestraszyce features exposed historic fortifications: earthworks, a moat, walls, an access road and gun emplacements. Work to open the fort to visitors is ongoing. If you are planning to visit the fort, check current visitor access in advance, given the ongoing work.
Arrangements and Getting There
Tours of the arboretum and reservations for a campfire site are available by prior arrangement. If a tour or the campfire site is important for your stay, include making arrangements as a separate planning step.
An English-language arboretum guide mentions local buses towards Wyszatyce and a stop named Bolestraszyce-Arboretum. Check whether the service is currently operating before travelling.
Discover more places to visit: Kalwaria Pacławska, Hruszowice, Łodzinka Dolna.
Return to the main travel overview: Przemyski.
