Attractions and Places To See around gmina gmina Reszel - Top 20

The basilica, built on the site of a former watchtower from 1359, expanded until the early 16th century, is the best-preserved defensive church in Masuria. Initially, it was a hall-type, single-nave building located in the southwestern corner of the city. Defensive porches and a tower topped with battlements were built in the crown of the walls. At the beginning of the 15th century, a second tower (bell tower) was built, and at the end of the century, the building was rebuilt into a three-nave pseudo-basilica (the northern side nave was added, the central and southern naves are located within the outline of the hall church). After a fire in 1500, during the reconstruction, the existing and characteristic deviation of the church's axis was created. In the church, the following are worthy of attention: the crystal vaults from 1515 by Master Matz from Gdańsk, the 16th-century pulpit, the organs from 1721 (Josue Mosengel, the creator of the organs in Święta Lipka) were rebuilt - the current one from 1975 has 43 voices, the tombstone of Krzysztof Schenk von Tautenburg from 1597 and the prison (entrance from the church) located under the high tower. After the Germans were expelled in 1945, the church was used by the Kętrzyn Evangelical parish. A year later, in 1946, the building was requisitioned by the communist authorities and immediately transferred to the Roman Catholic Church. Since then, the small "Polish church" of St. George, built next door in the mid-16th century, has been the only Evangelical church in the city. As a Roman Catholic temple, the church of St. George has held the title of minor basilica since 22 July 1999, and since 7 June 1992 it has also served as a collegiate church. In the church, the former chapel of St. James served as a baptistery after the Reformation, which after 1946 was architecturally shaped on the model of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius. Within the preserved defensive walls, adjacent to the church of St. George, there is a former rectory (14th/15th–16th centuries), built in the Middle Ages, and later a pastor's house (16th century – 1817), converted into a gymnasium in the 19th century (1817–1907), until 1945 it functioned as the so-called Widow's House – a place of residence for the wives of deceased priests. The gate at the western façade leads to the area between the walls, where a lapidarium has been arranged, containing a collection of historic tombstones, monuments, epitaphs and cast iron crosses. http://bazylika.ketrzyn.pl https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazylika_kolegiacka_%C5%9Bw._Jerzego_w_K%C4%99trzynie

Święta Lipka, although a small village in Kętrzyn County (Reszel commune), is known throughout Poland, thanks to the famous Marian Sanctuary. The Święta Lipka Basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, together with the cloister and monastery, is a Baroque monument. Since 2018, it has had the status of a historical monument. The beginning of the cult of the Mother of God in Święta Lipka dates back to the early 14th century. According to legend, a prisoner sentenced by the court in Kętrzyn placed a figure of the Mother of God on a lime tree, and thanks to the prayers offered to her, he was pardoned. Since then, pilgrims have been coming to the village not only from Warmia, but also from further afield, e.g. from Warsaw, Białystok, and even Vilnius.

Well restored 14th century castle (founded as Ordensburg Rastenburg), now a museum and a library

great city and definitely worth a trip

great city and definitely worth a trip

There is a restaurant in the castle courtyard - good food, decent beer.

The pilgrimage route from Reszel to Święty Lipka - the road from Reszel to Święty Lipka is approx. 6 km long with Baroque roadside shrines. It is also an excellent bicycle path. From the 15th century, pilgrims walked the route in "losiers" to the Marian Sanctuary in Święty Lipka. After the Prussian homage, the route connected Catholic Warmia with Protestant Masuria. In the times of bishop Krzysztof Andrzej Szembek, in the years 1733-1735, baroque rosary chapels made of sandstone were built on both sides of the route, made in 1734 by the German sculptor Jan Frey together with Jan Schmidt. Along the avenue there are ancient lime trees - natural monuments. Both the chapels and linden trees are entered in the register of monuments.

The castle in Reszel was built in the years 1350–1401. It was repeatedly besieged and captured several times by the Polish and Teutonic armies. In the years 1594–1597, the stronghold was transformed into a residence.