| Tourist values of Bedzin |
Bedzin is located in the north eastern part of the Silesia Province, at the Czarna Przemsza river, on the Silesia Uplands. It is headquarters for the District Authorities and has very rich history. Bedzin belongs to the oldest towns of Lesser Poland and the Silesia Province. It functions as a trade, economic (industry, power industry) and administration centre of Zaglebie Dabrowskie. Nowadays, about 60 000 inhabitants live in Bedzin in the area of 37 km2.
- Castle
It is a medieval Piast castle built in the 40s of the 14th century by Casimir the Great who turned a previously wooden court into a fortified stone stronghold. It is located on a hill on the Czarna Przemsza River. It was reconstructed in 1834 and rebuilt in the years 1952-1956. Inside the castle there is the Zaglebie Museum with a rich collection of former melee weapon, ranged weapon, firearms and armor. One can also climb the round tower to admire a beautiful panorama of Zaglebie.
- Undergrounds of castle hill in Bedzin
Undergrounds of castle hill in Bedzin consist of two joined tunnels excavated in the years 1943-1944 by prisoners on orders of the German invader inside castle hill. Orogenic belt of this area is made of middle Triassic limestones and dolomites lying on Carboniferous formations. There are four chambers hammered in a rock which in the future will serve as exhibition rooms. Corridors also function as exhibition space. An area in front of the entrance was arranged, covered with calciferous slabs and illuminated. In the vicinity there were reconstructed terrain stairs as well as a view point.
- Castle Hill
Castle hill is a friendly and well functioning place for rest. One can visit a park, defensive wall with a didactic path, green space with a playground for children and an amphitheatre as well as 15 places for recreation, reflection and meditation, so called “magic” places.
- The Mieroszewski Palace
It is a baroque and classical palace erected in 1702 by Kazimierz Mieroszewski as an imitation of French palaces of that time. The one-storeyed building has been redecorated and extended many times and therefore it does not have a uniform style. At the back, there is a park from the beginning of the 18th century surrounded by manorial outbuildings. There are also stone sculptures of Bacchus and Flora in the park. Nowadays the palace is a part of the Zaglebie Museum. Inside there are archaeological, ethnographic and historical collections.
- St. Dorothy’s Church
The most important hill in the area, St. Dorothy’s Mountain (382 m), has been an object of cult since pagan times. Up till now it is an interesting view point from which one can admire the panorama of Zaglebie and Silesia. The branch church, initially planned to be the parish church, was built there after the fire of the main shrine in Grodziec in 1635. In the 19th century it was a symbol of Polish identity for the Silesian people living on the other side of the Brynica River. At that time it became famous for its miraculous painting of the Blessed Virgin and a spring gushing at the foot of the hill, which, as it was believed, had healing properties (its water restored sight). At the moment the church is one of the places on the Via Regia trail – Way of St. James.
- Holy Trinity Church
The oldest shrine in Bedzin is beautifully located on the slope of castle hill. It was built probably in the 14th century in Casimir the Great’s times, almost simultaneously with the castle and town walls. The today’s chancel is its oldest part. It has been rebuilt many times because of serious damage – currently is has a baroque form and equipment. A main baroque altar, choir balcony with the only preserved in Bedzin image of the Mieroszewski family coat of arms (night heron) as well as numerous epitaphs also outside the church are worth attention. The lofty silhouette of the church used to compete with a synagogue located nearby. On its outside wall there is a plaque in Polish and Hebrew commemorating a heroic deed of priest M. Zawadzki, the Righteous Among the Nations. When Germans set fire to the synagogue in September 1938, he saved a group of Jews letting them pass trough the church area.
- Grodziec Cement Plant
A photographers’ cult place. Created in 1857 as the first in Poland factory of Portland cement and the fifth cement plant in the world. It was set up by Jan Ciechanowski. Since 1925 it was owned by SOLVAY concern and closed in 1979 because of mining damage. There are preserved 70 metres long halls, a collection of cement silos, furnaces, interesting interior constructions, a cooper’s workshop, a hall of rotating furnaces, a cement transfer station. Nowadays the technical condition of the plant makes visiting it impossible.
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- Rozkowka Park
Situated in Grodziec, in the area of the former sand excavation of Grodziec Coal Mine. It is a great place for a walk or a Sunday bicycle ride.
- St Dorothy’s Mountain
A hill of 382 meters above the sea level in Grodziec. Tourist Polish Hussars’ Route and the Via Regia trail run through it. On the top of the hill there is a historical church. On the eastern slope there is still a spring once regarded as a healing one. It is one of the areas of protected landscape in the Silesia Province.
- Grodziec Forest
It is one of the three areas of protected landscape in Bedzin. A red Polish Husars’ Route, a cycling path and an educational nature path (about 1 100 m) dedicated to forest topics with a few information boards run through it.