What else is worth seeing in the Masurian Landscape Park? 1. An early-medieval fortified town on Lake Majcz Wielki near Lipowo, with ramparts. The Masurian Landscape Park is one of the oldest and largest landscape parks in 2. The largest erratic boulder (pink granite) – 1 215 cm in circumference, 2 m in . It was established in 1977 and covers an area of 53 655 ha. The Park is situated height – in the Kusnort Peninsula near Miko∏ajki. in the Warmia and Mazury Province, in the borderland of three administrative districts: 3. Development structure of the village Ga∏kowo founded by old-believers. Mràgowo, and Szczytno and encompasses the following communes: Piecki, Mrà- 4. A monastery of old-believers built in 1847 in Wojnowo on Lake DuÊ. gowo, Âwi´tajno, Ruciane Nida, Miko∏ajki, and Pisz. This part of Poland is refer- 5. A brick Eastern monastery of old-believers (1922-1927) in Wojnowo. red to as a “Country of Great Lakes”, with the Mràgowo Lakeland in the west and the 6. A wooden Orthodox church (1922-1923) in Wojnowo. Masurian Plain in the south. 7. A Gothic church in Nawiady, built in 1437 (rebuilt in 1527). 8. A Neo-Gothic church in (1864). 9. A Neo-Gothic church in (1898). 10. A wooden belfry in Ukta (1846). 11. A water-mill on the Krutynia River in Zielony Lasek (19th c.). 12. Ruins of a water-mill on the Pierwos Stream near the village Bobrówko. 13. Water lifting on Uklanka, on the western shore of Lake Mokre. An Orthodox church in Wojnowo 14. Ruins of a railway bridge in Ukta from the end of the 19th c., destroyed at the end of the Second World War. 15. A flood-gate in Guzianka from the middle of the 19th c., between Lake Be∏dany 21. An old Masurian barn in the village Krutyƒ, which is the seat of the Nature and Lake Guzianka Ma∏a; average height of sluicing – 2.20 m, length of the flood- Museum. gate – 44 m, width of the flood-gate – 7.5 m. 22. An art gallery in Ze∏wàgi, presenting the works of sculptor Zdzis∏aw Grunwald. 16. A dam between Lake Mokre and Lake Krutyƒskie. 23. The Eugeniusz Bielawski Museum in Wejsuny. 17. A ferry in Wierzba near Moko∏ajki, sailing every hour, from 6.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. 24. A folk art collection by Walentyna Dermacka and Maria Dermacka in Piecki. 18. Junkers’ buildings in Krutynia and ¸uknajno. 25. The Wild Animal Park in Kadzid∏owo. You can see here representatives of the 19. A palace-park complex in Baranowo. deer family, Polish ponies, various bird species. Nearby there is a Cultural Center 20. The Ernst Wiechert Museum in Piers∏awek. in Kadzid∏owo, with historical Masurian buildings like old wooden peasant cotta- ges, granaries and farm buildings. Fields in the vicinity of Miko∏ajki 26. A Research Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Popielno, with breeding farms of deer, Polish ponies and beavers. 27. A deer family farm at the Research Station of the Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences, in Kosewo. There are big herds of deer, fallow deer (about 200 head), mouflons and Polish ponies. 28. The Szeroki Ostrów Peninsula with cliff shores and a view over Lake Âniardwy. 29. A former manor park in Brejdyny. 30. “Oak on Mukre” commemorating Karol Ma∏∏ek – an oak tree on the eastern shore of Lake Mokre. 31. “Royal Pine” – a pine-tree that died 30 years ago, opposite the “Oak on Mukre”. nature reserves 32. “Royal Oaks” in Ruciane Nida, near the arterial road to Pisz, on the left, opposite a seed extraction plant; two English oaks: “Dobko” (near the roadt) and “Gniewko”. 1. Krutynia; 2. Zakr´t; 3. Królewska Sosna; 4. Krutynia Dolna; 5. Jezioro Warno∏ty; 6. Czaplisko-¸awny Lasek; 7. Strza∏owo 33. “Lovers” – a group of oak trees, 300 m to the west of the Krutyƒ village. 8. Jezioro Lisiny; 9. Czapliniec; 10. Jezioro ¸uknajno; 11. Pierwos 34. An English oak in the village Ukta, near a parking lot. 35. Evangelical graveyards in the villages: Ukta, Krutyƒ, Bobrówko, Wojnowo, and Evangelical graveyards in the villages: Ukta, Krutyƒ, Bobrówko, Wojnowo, and burial grounds of old-believers in the villages: Wojnowo, Ga∏kowo, Iwa- burial grounds of old-believers in the villages: Wojnowo, Ga∏kowo, Iwanowo, nowo, Kadzid∏owo, . Kadzid∏owo, Onufryjewo. The village Krutyƒ A monastery of old-believers on Lake DuÊ Settlement Environmental protection The most popular nature monuments are those located in the vicinity of the village Krutyƒ: “Lovers”, “Krutyƒ Oak”, “Masurian Oak”, and near the village Zgon: “Royal Pine”, “Dàb on The biggest villages in the Masurian Landscape The Masurian Landscape Park was established to protect the natural environment, landscape Mukre” commemorating Karol Ma∏∏ek, as well as old oak-trees in the center of the village Ukta Park are Ukta on the Krutynia River and Krutyƒ, amenities, cultural values and natural spatial arrangements, such as tree-alleys, coppices and and “Royal Oaks” in Ruciane-Nida. Masurian which is the seat of the Park authorities. There parks. Especially valuable fragments of the Park, floral and faunal peculiarities and geomorpho- are 29 settlement units in the Masurian Land- logic features are protected within 11 nature reserves, 18 sites of special ecological interest and scape Park, with a population of about 4 800 per- 94 nature monuments. Particular attention should be paid to the largest biosphere reserve, manent residents. Particular attention should be Lake ¸uknajno, covering an area of 1 189.11 ha. This bird sanctuary protects mute swans stop- Landscape Park paid to the settlement of old-believers from the ping there during their migrations. About 1 500 swans have been observed on this lake recently. beginning of the 19th c. The old-believers pur- Other interesting nature reserves are “Krutynia” (273.12 ha) and “Lower Krutynia” (969.33 ha). chased and colonized the areas on the Krutynia “Lower Krutynia” is a landscape, floral and faunal reserve, protecting the meanders of the Kru- River and its neighborhood. They founded the tynia River and habitats of rare plant and animal species. Nearby the village Krutyƒ there are two villages: Wojnowo, Ga∏kowo, Piotrowo, Onufryje- known nature reserves, i.e. “Zakr´t” (105.8 ha) and “Royal Pine” (103.76 ha), established to pro- wo, Kadzid∏owo and Osiniak, five churches (in tect small dystrophic lakes with characteristic “floating islands” (fragments of “peat blankets”) the 1870s) and several monasteries. Two of them, and rare plants, like e.g. insectivorous sundew. The nature reserves “Royal Pine” and “Strza∏o- dedicated to the Saviour and the Holy Trinity, can wo” (14.12 ha) protect fragments of a mixed forest, with fine, tall (33 m) pine trees. “Czaplisko- be visited today in Wojnowo. Traditional buil- ¸awny Lasek” (7.62 ha) and “Czapliniec” (17.10 ha) are bird sanctuaries protecting an old pine Lake Âniardwy dings erected by the Russian settlers were first forest which used to be a habitat of gray heron, birds of prey and hole-nesting birds. “Lake War- wooden, then brick, based on the standards of no∏ty” (373.3 ha) is also a bird reserve, protecting the breeding site of numerous mud and Waters and forests regional Masurian architecture. Ruins of former A historical church in Nawiady water birds, and the feeding ground of rare species of birds of prey. The Nature Reserve “Lake A goosander family on the sacred objects, dwelling houses (wooden and brick) and farm buildings can be found in the vil- Lisiny – Lake Lisunie” (15.78 ha) protects localities of rare rush and water plants (Cladium mari- Krutynia River The biggest Polish lake – Âniardwy – and the northern part of the Pisz Primeval Forest (29 000 ha) lages Lipowo, Klon, Zgon, Ukta. Regional Masurian architecture is characterized by symmetry scus, Najas flexilis). ”Pierwos” (605.48 ha) is a landscape, floral and faunal reserve. It protects are located within the boundaries of the Masurian Landscape Park. A plant community charac- and simplicity of form, use of local building materials (ceramic brick, wood, cobble-stone), diversified forest, peat and water ecosystems. teristic of the Park is a dry-ground, multi-species leafy forest, with such trees as: English oak gable pantile roofs with wooden construction. Villages were often located along roads (ribbon Sites of ecological interest constitute a form of environmental protection concerning ecosys- Quercus robur, small-leaved lime Tilia cordata, European hornbeam Carpinus betulus and Nor- development), but scattered housing was also popular. Today some villages form complexes tems that have been so far treated as wasteland, e.g. small in-field and in-forest lakes and way maple Acer platanoides. In wet areas and watersides there are marshy coniferous forests, characterized by original architecture and picturesque location among parks, coppices and tree- swamps, xerothermic swards, wet meadows, collections of boulders. These are: a dry-ground alder carrs, marshy meadows and riverside carrs. There are long ribbon lakes in the forests, alleys. forest “”, a meadow “Krutynia”, meadows “Morysie”, a peat-bog “Ze∏wàgi”, a hill “Praw- such as Be∏dany and Miko∏ajskie, and Lake Mokre in the western part of the Park, which is the dowskie”, marshy grounds “Zawady”, “Ba˝yna” (“Crowbery”), a small dystrophic lake “Zau∏ek”, deepest in the Park (maximum depth – 51 m). There are about 90 lakes covering over 1 ha in dystrophic lakes “Kruczki”, “Klimontek”, “Klimont” and other. the Park. There are also numerous small in-forest inland lakes, overgrown with peatland vege- tation, with such peculiar plant species as sundew, and characteristic ”floating islands“ (frag- ments of the so called ”peat blan- kets”). Running waters of the Park are represented by the Krutynia River, flowing picturesquely through its western part, surrounded by mo- Masurian Landscape Park rainal hills. This river is 26 km in Krutyƒ, 11-710 Piecki length. It rises in Lake Krutyƒskie and flows into Lake Gardyƒskie, being a part of a famous canoeing Text: A. Kruszelnicka route, about 102 km in length. There are numerous streams with Translated by: Aleksandra Poprawska clear water in the Park, often Photographs: W. Bzura resembling small rivers. The most DTP and print: KENGRAF interesting among them are: Blan- Krutyƒ 2006 kowa Struga, Pierwos, Uklanka, Skok and Garcianka. Waters cover a phone./fax +48 89 742 14 05, 742 14 58 total area of about 18 000 ha in the e-mail:[email protected], www.mazury.com.pl Guide Leaflet The Krutynia River Masurian Landscape Park. An old wooden peasant cottage in Wojnowo A “floating peat island” in the Nature Reserve “Zakr´t”