Top 7 Natural Monuments around Starachowice

A demanding climb

This route made a strong impression on me, I will definitely come back🫡

A must visit on Sieradowicki

this is one big attraction this single track

Wykus was the base of Polish partisans. During the January Uprising, insurgents commanded by Marian Langiewicz were stationed here. During World War II, camps of Polish underground soldiers were located here, first under the command of Maj. Henryk Dobrzański "Hubal", later the Home Army Partisan Groups "Ponury" - lieutenant cc. Jan Piwnik "Ponury". On On September 15, 1957, in the place of the former camp, a chapel with the image of Our Lady of Sorrows was unveiled, commemorating those who died in the fight for the homeland. On its walls there are 123 nicknames of soldiers who died during the war. The shrine is surrounded by a wall, on which there are several hundred plaques with the names of the dead soldiers of the "Ponury" and "Nurt" groups. The chapel with the surrounding area within a radius of 30 m is the "Wykus" National Memorial Site and is entered in the register of immovable monuments. Every year, on the second Saturday of June, ceremonies commemorating the fallen soldiers of the Partisan Groups of the Home Army "Ponury" are organized in Wykus. Wykus (326 m above sea level) is also a nature reserve.

A small but incredibly spectacular gorge. I consider the downhill and uphill rides even MTB impossible, but it is worth going even if you have to get off the bike at times.

The Wykus partial reserve was established by the Ordinance of the Minister of Forestry and Wood Industry of October 11, 1978. The total area of the reserve is 53.01 ha, including 52.7 ha of forest and 0.31 ha of non-forest land. The reserve belongs to the Suchedniów Forest District, Bronkowice Forest District, Bodzentyn and Wąchock communes. The subject of protection in the reserve are diversified and highly natural forests with the participation of pine, fir and oak, hornbeam, birch, aspen and alder. The age of the upper layer of trees varies from 70 to 100 years, with specimens reaching 140 years. They are a great natural asset of the reserve. The highest degree of naturalness is characteristic of forest-like fir and alder stands. The area of the reserve is overgrown with a number of forest vegetation communities, among which the following deserve attention: Carpathian beech forest, oak-hornbeam forest, upland fir forest, mixed forest, Central Polish mixed forest with fir and alder and ash riparian forest. Many interesting and protected species of plants grow in the undergrowth and undergrowth, including: hepatica, live onion, three-needle moss, bugle, laurel and clubmoss. However, Wykus is famous above all for its many historical places. Large complexes of forests have long provided shelter to patriots fighting for the independence of our country. It was here that the January insurgents found shelter and the partisans of World War II. The Wykus Reserve is an important junction of tourist trails. They lead to it: - green hiking trail from Skarżysko (Mostek) - blue pedestrian from Wąchock and Bodzentyn - black pedestrian from Starachowice - red bicycle from Mostki, Wąchock and Bronkowice

Polana Langiewicza is commonly regarded as a campsite for insurgent troops led by General Marian Langiewicz during the January Uprising in 1863. However, there is no evidence that the insurgents were stationed in this exact place and that General Langiewicz himself stayed there. This place was indicated by Capt. Wojdacki, writing that "there was a spring and an oak grew, where General Marjan Langiewicz sat as if on a stool". The place was marked for the first time in 1925, during the convention of veterans of the 1863 uprising. Then, after the holy mass in Wąchock, the participants of the reunion went to the clearing, where a commemorative plaque was consecrated. The plaque was made in a foundry in Skarżysko, owned by Kazimierz Jan Witwicki, son of Jan Witwicki, an insurgent. At that time, the plaque was hung on an oak - today it is hung on a pine.