Man has held old and stately trees in esteem for a long time. Today’s biggest, most valuable or rare trees are put under legal protection as “Monuments of Nature”. In Cieszyn 37 have been established, i.e. 99 trees, growing either in isolation or in groups, have come within this kind of protection. They constitute 27 taxonomic categories (species, sub-varieties and forms). Fifteen of them are domestic species, those remaining are alien to the Polish flora. Most of those trees grow in Cieszyn’s parks and gardens in the centre of the town. The most interesting are the ones that grow on Castle Hill, in the Hospital Park, and the Church Park.
      On Castle Hill it is worth taking a close look at two gorgeous common horse-chestnuts (trunk circumference: 397 and 380cm, height: about 23m) that grow just beyond the entrance to the park, along the path that leads to the Rotunda. A little further is a tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) (circumference:187cm, height:20 m) and two yellow chestnuts (Aesculus flava: 198/18 and 145+246/20). Yellow chestnuts are rarely planted in Poland and the two specimens on Castle Hill are the only representatives of this species in the municipal green areas in Cieszyn. Besides, two shapely ash-trees (Fraxinus excelsior) are also monuments of nature. The first grows by the building no 3B (407/25), the second (440/25), by the wall along the Olza, next to Terrace View. A maidenhair-tree, columnar sub-variety (Ginkgo biloba “Fastigiata”) that grows on a so-called Castle Yard, i.e. today’s premises of The State Music School, is also stately (165/17). Its boughs and branches are raised up in a characteristic way.
      The trees that we can see in the Hospital Park are equally interesting. At the entrance, from the side of Bielska street, a field elm (Ulmus minor, 363/22) greets everybody entering the Silesian Hospital. In a square between Pavillion I and the Head Office there are two Turkey oaks (Quercus cerris; 175/18, 178/18) and a European beech copper-leaf sub-variety (Fagus sylvatica “Cuprea”; 268/21) with intense, light crimson leaves. Between Pavillions I and II one can also see a honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos;150/16). Next to the Administration Building there is a maidenhair-tree (190/19) and in front of the Psychiatric Unit a whitebeam (Sorbus aria;136/14).
      The common horse-chestnuts, the dominant species in the Church Park (in the section between the Jesus Church and Stalmacha street), are legally protected as monuments of nature (17 chestnuts: 223-383/20-22). The following trees have also been classified: the three eastern white pines (Pinus strobus; 150-195/20), a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia; 230/20) and a hedge maple (Acer campestre;236/14) with its trunk twisted in an original and picturesque way. On the other side of the Jesus Church there is a big lime-tree (Tilia plytyphyllos;397/22).This tree was the first tree classified as a monument of nature in Cieszyn (in 1954). We can also see a row of three gorgeous common horse-chestnuts (337/24, 362/22,371/22).
      In the remaining parks we can also meet tree-monuments. One such can be found in the Peace Park. It is a lime-tree (Tilia plytyphyllos;420/23) and it grows next to the Museum building. Another one is a Canadian poplar (Populus xeuramericana; 388/24), the biggest tree in the Chestnut Park. Many valuable trees (and trees worth seeing) grow in the “pod Wałką” Park. Among them, the two lime-trees (Tilia plytyphyllos;380/20 and Tilia cordata;398/18) that grow along al. Łyska, next to the Olza campsite, are classified. The small-leaved lime-tree has big conspicuous gnarls on its trunk, just like the horse-chestnut (399/18) that grows opposite. In the stocked part of the park, at the bend of the Puńcówka, 8 trees have been classified as monuments of nature: 4 wych elms (Ulmus glabra; 248-287/27), 2 common horse-chestnuts (330/18, 348/18) and 2 honey locusts (130/14, 143/14). One of the honey locusts does not possess the thorns (spikes?) that are characteristic of that species; it is the “defenceless”form of that tree. While walking along a path along the” Młynówka” stream, beside the campsite in the direction of the so-called third weir on the Olza river, we pass, over a distance of a few hundred meters, numerous sizable trees, among which there are 13 monuments of nature. They are: 3 wych elms (306-405/25-28), 3 English oaks (Quercus robur: 281-348/20-21), 3 European hornbeams (Carpinus betulus; 213-248/17-18), a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia; 350/22), a common horse-chestnut (403/18), a sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus;327/20) and a lime- tree (Tilia cordata;310/28). The set of the monuments of nature in that area is complemented by a stately wych elm (422/27) that grows at the “Olza” camping-site.
      While taking a stroll around the centre of Cieszyn, it is worth taking a close look at the remaining tree-monuments. For example, 8 ash trees (275-466/24-25) that grow on Al. Piastowska, 4 of which catch our special attention because of the very large circumferences of their trunks. And then there are two characteristic honey locusts (151/14, 184/18) that grow in front of the Adam Mickiewicz Theatre. The silver maple (350/23) that grows near the Mikołaj Kopernik grammar school, from the side of Stalmacha street, also looks very attractive. Another group of trees that are original and worth preserving are the trees growing in two private estates in Błogocka street (Numbers 12 and 19). In the former there are two maidenhair-trees (224/20,232/20), and in the latter a beautiful tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera;350/24). The European beech purple-leaf sub-variety (Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea;259/17) that grows in front of the Childrens’ Home at 2 Kraszewskiego street looks extremely attractive and picturesque. In Bobrecka street, in a square between the houses no5 and 7, you can see yet another maidenhair-tree (215/20). A little further, while standing in front of house no22, your attention should be attracted to the largest English oak in Cieszyn (510/25). It grows on the slope above the house, in the garden of Kindergarten no 8 (at 1 Chrobrego street).Its trunk circumference is the greatest of all of Cieszyn’s monuments of nature. The European beech (270/20) and the European hornbeam (233/17) that grow in a square at Pl. Wolności, in front of house no 3, probably remember the times when today’s square, which is small, was part of a larger park. The ash-tree (344/18) on a slope in Żwirki i Wigury street, and the black poplar (Populus nigra; 398/28) on a slope at Solna street, between the houses in Górna street, no 17 and 19 are both solitary giants. The Norway maple, Schwedler sub-variety (Acer platanoides “Schwedleri”; 294/22) that grows in front of the main building of the Silesian University, Cieszyn branch, is a relic of the old park, once splendid, and today, unfortunately, seriously disturbed.
      The 4 English oaks (420/22, 251/22, 347/23, 353/22) that grow together and can be seen by one of the ponds of Ośrodek PZW in Cieszyn-Gułdowy, between Wiślańska and Ustrońska streets are also monuments of nature.

Hedge Maple in Church Park
The monuments of nature on Castle Hill
A lime-tree in the “Pod Wałką “ Park
Silver Maple at Stalmacha street
Maidenhair-tree at 12 Błogocka street
English oak at Ustrońska street