Blue Trail: Nowa Słupia – Św. Krzyż

Kolor szlaku
Nazwa szlaku PTTK im. Stanisława Jeżewskiego Pętkowice – Święty Krzyż
Długość 80 km
Odcinek w granicach ŚPN Nowa Słupia – Święty Krzyż (Łysa Góra)
Długość odcinka
i czas przejścia
2 km,
1h.
Rodzaj szlaku Pieszy
Informacja o cenach Szlak płatny
Na szlaku. Fot. M. Smoleński
Na szlaku

This two-kilometre-long part of the trail is called the Royal Road. It is suggested that the name comes from many pilgrimages made by Polish kings who were heading this way towards relics of the Holy Cross. Walking the trail, it is worth remembering that this route was beaten before by kings such as Władysław Jagiełło (Jogaila), Casimir IV Jagiellon, John I Albert, Sigismund I the Old with Queen Bona, Sigismund III Vasa, Władysław IV Vasa, John II Casimir, Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, and others.

In Nowa Słupia, near the ŚNP entrance, there is the Mieczysław Radwan Museum of Ancient Metallurgy, where we can learn about the history of ancient iron smelting in the region. Besides, in the nearby area of “Piecowisko” we can see the bloomery reconstruction. Not far away, there is also a stone monument of a pilgrim, known as Emeryk. According to legends and folktales, the pilgrim was turned into stone because of his vanity. Each year a grain of sand moves towards the monastery. The legend tells that when the pilgrim reaches the monastery gates, the world will end.

 

At the point where the trail enters the Park, there is the ŚNP gate. Here, we can buy entrance tickets, and get acquainted with the ŚNP code of conduct. Entering the Park, we can admire natural forests. Near the trail there grows Jagiełło’s beech, one of the oldest and the most imposing trees in the ŚNP.

Reaching the peak of the Święty Krzyż (Holy Cross) mountain, we pass the stone cairn commemorating Prince Adam Czartoryski. The memorial, piled after Prince’s death in 1861, reminds us about his remarkable patriotic speech on Święty Krzyż. Nearby, there is a Grotto of Our Lady to the left, and a small wooden “Dąbrówki” chapel to the right. According to some traditions, it stands on the site of a destroyed small Romanesque rotunda from the 10th century. If we bear right on a short path, after 200 metres we will reach the cemetery of the Soviet prisoners of war, murdered by the Germans in the prison camp that existed on Święty Krzyż in the years 1941-42.