The best walks and hikes around Wilczyce

Beautiful historic architecture, the entire market square paved with stone.

Beautiful historic architecture, the entire market square paved with stone.

Be on the Main Square in Sandomierz 🙂

The Royal Castle in Sandomierz is one of the most important historical buildings in the city, located on a slope above the Vistula River. It was built in the 14th century on the initiative of Casimir the Great and for centuries served as a royal residence and the seat of starosts. In the 17th century it was partially destroyed by the Swedes and later transformed into a prison, which operated until the 1950s. Currently, it houses the District Museum, where you can see exhibitions on the history of Sandomierz, art and archaeology. From the castle hill there is a beautiful view of the Vistula and the city, which makes this place an attractive point on the tourist route.

A beautiful place for long evening walks.

The Gothic basilica was built on the site of the original Romanesque collegiate church, which did not survive the Tatar invasions in the 13th century and the Lithuanians in 1349. A new collegiate church was founded in 1360 by King Casimir the Great, and in 1818 it received the rank of Cathedral, and in 1960 of Cathedral Basilica.

Opatowska Gate – a Gothic entrance gate from the 2nd half of the 14th century in Sandomierz. Built by Casimir the Great as part of the city's defensive walls. In the 16th century, it was topped with a Renaissance attic funded by Sandomierz physician Stanisław Bartolon[2]. During the January Uprising, on February 8, 1863, the dramatic epilogue of the Battle of Słupcza took place here. The defeated insurgents, escaping from the battlefield, tried to resist on the barricade erected in the Opatowska Gate. However, it was captured during the first attack by the pursuing Cossacks. It is the only preserved gate out of four that once led to Sandomierz. Apart from Opatowska, the city was also accessed by the Zawichojska, Lublin and Krakowska gates, as well as two wickets, of which one has survived – the Dominican, called the Eye of the Needle.

The Town Hall in Sandomierz – a building erected in 1349 – shortly after the Lithuanian invasion. Originally Gothic, it was a square-shaped structure topped with a tall, octagonal tower. The southern, oldest part (with a sundial) comes from this period. In the 16th century, it was expanded into an elongated rectangle, and then topped with a three-zone attic, attributed to Giovanni Maria Padovano. The corners of the attic are decorated with heads representing the four estates. The tower was added in the 17th century. On the southern wall of the town hall, there is a sundial made using the sgraffito technique by Tadeusz Przypkowski (1958), former owner of the clock museum in Jędrzejów. On the eastern side in front of the town hall there is a statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary from 1776, erected to commemorate the holy mission in 1770. The town hall houses the Civil Registry Office, and the "Lapidarium" club is located in the basement. Next to the entrance to the club is the exit from the underground tourist route. At 12:00 the Sandomierz bugle call is played from the town hall tower.