6. The estates walk
THE ROUTE OF THE WALK IS MARKED IN BLUE (map no. 6):
PKS Bus Station – ul. W. Korfantego – ul. Bielska – ul. J. U. Niemcewicza – ul. J. Przybosia – ul. L. Staffa – ul. Z. Kossak-Szatkowskiej – ul. Na Wzgórzu – footpath from the car park to ul. G. Morcinka (next to the baker’s) – ul. W. Kargera – ul. gen. J. Hallera – ul. Jastrzebia – ul. Puńcowska – ul. A. Mickiewicza– ul. K. Przerwy-Tetmajera – ul. W. Sikorskiego – ul. Błogocka – ul. P. Stalmacha – ul. H. Sienkiewicza – pl. Kościelny – ul. Wyższa Brama – Górny Rynek – ul. J. Kochanowskiego – ul. W. Korfantego – al. O. Madeckiego – ul. F. Hajduka – PKP Railway Station
Length of walk – 10 km.
We begin our walk in front of the PKS Bus Station by the ul. W. Korfantego entrance. We cross ul. Kolejowa by the roundabout and continue along ul. W. Korfantego which becomes ul. Bielska by the petrol station. Ul. Bielska 55 on the left has the typical style of a Polish manor house with a characteristic porch supported by two columns and topped by a triangular pediment. It is worth going into the courtyard behind the house where we can see a very old cottage – now abandoned – dating from the turn of the 18th century with a hipped mansard roof (fig. 96). As we walk along ul. Bielska alongside the university campus we are joined by the signs of the green route coming from ul. I. Paderewskiego. Soon after the green route goes off to the left down ul. Brodzińskiego. We pass the university campus (there is information about the university in Walk 4). A great many mature trees grow in the university’s grounds; small-leaved limes, broad-leaved limes, a horse chestnut, an elm, a tulip-tree, a Weymouth pine with a girth of 138 centimetres and a height of 18 metres, a field maple with a girth of 170 centimetres and a height of 16 metres, and a nature monument – a maple of the Schwedler variety with a girth of 294 centimetres and a height of 22 metres. After passing the university buildings (fig. 97) we turn right into ul. J. U. Niemcewicza, left soon after into ul. J. Przybosia and then left again into ul. L. Staffa. We climb steadily through a contemporary residential district. On our left we have views of the Bobrek Estate and the hills which ring Cieszyn to the north.
We soon reach ul. Z. Kossak-Szatkowskiej where we turn right. We begin to climb with the Podgórze Estate in front of us. We stop at a viewpoint on the hill by the car park to admire the magnificent panorama (described in Walk 4). After a short rest we continue on our way. After around 400 m we reach ul. Na Wzgórzu and turn left into it. We get to the next car park where the road ends. We continue along the footpath that runs through the estate keeping the smallish valley on our left. We pass the bakery and arrive at ul. Morcinka, which we cross and join a bumpy track, ul. W. Kargera. On the right we have an imposing orchard, beyond which is a valley with several ponds, and on the left beyond the metal garages we can see Krasna and the surrounding hills, dominated by Kamieniec. We reach the point from where a panorama of the Silesian Beskid Mountains spreads out in front of us. We have a magnificent view of Równica, Czantoria, Stożek, Ostrý, Jasieniowa, Tuł, and Chełm. We turn right and walk along by a large orchard. On our left we can see 19th century buildings. We reach ul. gen. J. Hallera and turn left – we are in Mnisztwo. The beginnings of this district are linked with the Dominican Order in Cieszyn. In the 15th century apart from the gardens adjoining their monastery in the town they were given a farm here. The farm was named mniszy folwark – Monks’ Grange, hence the village’s name; Mnisztwo. The grange was finally divided up by the Habsburgs in 1775. The railway line was brought to the edge of the village in 1888 and a halt was built. We pass a few new houses on our right the older, neoclassicist church consecrated in 1900 and then the parish church of the Birth of John the Baptist, consecrated in 1992. It was designed by the distinguished architect, Edward Kisiel. We continue to the centre of Mnisztwo – the junction of ul. gen. J. Hallera, ul. Słowicza and ul. Jastrzębia. In the small square in the centre once stood a monument commemorating the deaths in action of Mnisztwo men in the First World War, with fifteen names mentioned. Today the inscription reads, „To commemorate the rebirth of the State of Poland, Mnisztwo, 1 November 1918.” Opposite the monument stands the former school building, first opened in 1906, today Nursery no. 7. The Volunteer Fire Service has its headquarters on the junction of ul. gen. J. Hallera and ul. Słowicza. Up until the year 2000 the Volunteer Fire Station which was built in 1911 stood here. Lutheran Church of Jesus and the Old Town from ul. Z. Kossak-Szatkowskiej.
A branch of Macierz (the Polish educational and cultural organisation) was founded in Mnisztwo in 1925. We go down ul. Słowicza and after about 50 metres reach the Macierz House, built in 1939. We can see a plaque on the wall commemorating T. Tomiczek, a member of Macierz, the ZWZ (League of Armed Resistance) and the resistance movement, who was killed by the Nazis on 2 December 1942.
From the centre of Mnisztwo we turn right into ul. Jastrzębia. We soon get to the top of the hill (375 m above sea level). There is a viewpoint by house no. 28 from where we have a splendid panorama of the Silesian Beskid Mountains including; Równica, Czantoria, Tuł, Jasieniowa, Mołczyn, Wróżna, Kojkovska horka, Farský kopec and Koňsky Les. As we descend it becomes more built up and soon we reach the boundary of Cieszyn and the village of Puńców at the junction of ul. Jastrzębia, ul. Dębowa and ul. Puńcowska. Here is also a bridge over one of the streams that run into the Puńcówka. We turn right into ul. Puńcówska. We pass houses dating from the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, as well as houses of architectural interest built relatively recently. On the right in front of one of the houses is a wayside shrine to the Holy Mother of Cieszyn. We come to no. 104, whose owner is a bird-lover and bird-breeder. In his garden he has gathered around 70 breeds of bird. There are; geese, ducks, peacocks, swans (including black swans from Australia), pheasants and parrots. Further on at no. 74 we can admire a noble Austrian pine.
We reach the first buildings of the ZOR Estate (described in walk 4). We pass a wayside shrine to the Holy Virgin of Cieszyn on the corner of ul. Puńcowska and ul. Długa. After another 200 metres we turn left into ul. A. Mickiewicza. At first we walk through the blocks of the estate but soon come to an old people’s home on our left, which was opened in 2000. Beyond the home towers a huge television mast and, on our right, we pass a restaurant.
We go down ul. A. Mickiewicza. On our left we have the Celma allotments, and a view of the hills Farský kopec and Koňsky Les on the Polish-Czech border ridge. We pass the Dom Działkowca on our left, and houses on our right. When we reach the gate leading into the allotments we turn right into ul. K. Przerwy-Tetmajera. We walk past elegant houses with well-kept gardens. On the left, hidden in undergrowth, is a forgotten World War Two bunker in need of repair which was built in 1939 to support the defence lines of the Polish Army in the event of a German invasion (fig. 98). We turn left into ul. W. Sikorskiego keeping the bunker on our left hand side. We continue downhill for a while and then turn right. We have reached ul. Błogocka and we are at the edge of the Lasek Miejski nad Puńcówką Nature Reserve (fig. 79). From the 1930s there was a ski-jump here. Nowadays the location of the starting tower, ramp and takeoff has become overgrown with plants and is difficult to find. The landing was planted over with trees and became an area which spontaneously evolved into a plant community, comprising woodland growing on marshland and by rivers and streams. The area is now the Łęg nad Puńcówką Site of Ecological Interest (fig. 99). Growing here are grey alder, weeping willow, crack willow, ashleaf maple, and ground cover of; bedstraw, nettles, chervil, bur marigold, marsh marigold, butterbur (its leaves can grow up to 1 metre long and around 50 centimetres wide), maschotel, crane’s bill, Japanese knotweed (fig. 100) and hedge bindweed.
Our walk continues along ul. Błogocka, the main road of the Błogocice district. There are several examples of interesting architecture along this street; no. 42, built in 1908, has elements of Tyrolean style, no. 40 is eclectic (fig. 101), no. 14 neoclassicist. Rows of green ash (the tallest of which has a girth of 225 centimetres and a height of 21 metres) growing at the bottom of the slope between ul. Kasztanowa and plac J. Poniatowskiego and purple crab apple trees – the biggest of which has a girth of 87 centimetres and a height of 3 metres – form an avenue. The tallest beech – a purple beech – of girth 209 cm and height of 22 m and the largest red oak of the golden variety (girth 190 cm and height 19 metres) in Cieszyn grow at no. 42. We pass the Catholic primary school at no. 19. The tallest tulip-tree (girth 350 centimetres and height 24 metres) in Cieszyn, with an unusual ‘candlestick-shaped’ crown grows in the grounds of the school (fig. 102 and 103). We pass the complex of 19th-century army barracks in which the 100th KK infantry regiment of the Austrian Army was stationed until 1918 and then the 4th Podhale Rifles Regiment. On the left hand side of the street at no. 24 is a sports and hiking centre – formerly Dom Żołnierza – and the youth hostel which is open all year round. There is a commemorative plaque on the wall. Gymnasium no. 3 is visible on the right beyond the playground. At no. 12 there are two exotic ginkgo trees, both nature monuments, one with a girth of 224 centimetres and a height of 20 metres and the other a girth of 232 centimetres and a height of 20 metres. Passing attractive pre-war houses on the left and the District Police Station on the right we arrive at pl. J. Poniatowskiego (described in walk 1.)
We go down ul. P. Stalmacha to ul. H. Sienkiewicza. We pass the building which used to house the Macierz Ziemi Cieszyńskiej Gymnasium on the left (described in walk 1.). On the right is the Church Park. Here grow the remaining trees of the Lutheran Cemetery which existed here from 1709 to 1887, next to the church. Several trees registered as nature monuments grow here; 17 horse chestnuts (girths 223-383 cm, heights 20-22 metres), a field maple (girth 236 cm, height 14 metres) and 3 Weymouth pines (fig. 104) with dimensions of; 150 cm and 20 metres, 182 cm and 20 metres and 195 cm and 20 metres. Other notable specimens are; a false acacia of girth 230 cm and height 20 metres, a Berlin poplar of girth 275 cm and height 22 metres, dogwood which blooms yellow in the spring (fig. 105) and towards the end of summer produces elongated red berries (fig. 105a), a black alder and a plane-tree. After the park we turn right and come to pl. Kościelny (there are descriptions of buildings in walk 1.). There are also several nature monuments here worth admiring; a large-leaved lime (girth 397 cm, height 22 metres), three horse chestnuts (337cm/24m, 363cm/22m, 371cm/22m) and other trees which are not nature monuments; a European larch, silver maple, small-leaved limes, three oaks and the largest tree of heaven (184cm/16m) in Cieszyn. A monument to Father Jiří Třanovský, called the Slavonic Luther (1591-1637) stands in the shadow of the trees. Born in Cieszyn, he was a great religious poet and preacher, and the creator of the hymn-book Cithara Sanctorum.
We turn left into ul. Wyższa Brama (described in walk 1.) and go on towards Górny Rynek (described in walk 1.) From there we go along ul. J. Kochanowskiego (described in walk 1.) until we get to pl. ks. J. Londzina (described in walk 1.) where we turn right into ul. W. Korfantego. We turn left just beyond the neoclassicist old people’s home dating from 1887, and go down the steep footpath (al. O. Madeckiego) passing the Cieszynianka housing association on the right, to the square in front of the Railway Station. We have come to the end of our walk.