Wołtuszowa and the Lemko Trail
Nearby: Krosno| Distance | 2.6km |
|---|---|
| Time | 1h 3min |
| Ascents | 162m |
| Descents | 108m |
beach_access Route in the shade
directions_car Access by car
directions_bus Can be reached by bus
Wołtuszowa was a Lemko village, located above the valley of the Black Stream among the Rymanów Hills about 2 km from the center of the well-known Podkarpackie spa town of Rymanów-Zdrój.
Red trail from Rymanów-Zdrój to Wołtuszowa
The Main Beskid Trail passes through the former village area, allowing us to get here from both Rymanów-Zdrój and Puławy and Wisłoczka.
Heading from Rymanów-Zdrój, we go south, up the Tabor river, to the mouth of the Black Stream (S. Wyspiański Street). Right at the entrance to the valley, there are historic spa villas and several parking lots.
The first section of the route is a comfortable asphalt road with several attractions and interesting places, which we describe in detail here:
Easy
Black Creek Valley, Crocus Spring and Crocus Meadow
From the Black Stream Valley to Wołtuszowa
After about 1.5 km (20 min.) of walking down the valley, the red signs turn right into the forest. Now the path will be more "terrain" and at the same time steeper.
We will reach the destination, the former church and the remains of the cemetery, by a forest road in about 10-15 min. Only a stone baptismal font remains from the old church, and there are a few tombstones in the church cemetery. There is also an information board and benches and tables here.
Lemko Trail in Wołtuszowa
The church ruins and cemetery are definitely the most readable traces left by the former Lemko village. However, you should definitely not end your walk here! The white-blue signs of the so-called "Lemko Trail" will lead us to many other interesting places hidden in the immediate vicinity.
Walking this 2.5 km trail will take us about 40 min.
Winding along narrow paths, we discover a whole lot of objects that remember the former inhabitants of the village.
Individual places are marked and sometimes also described (you can also see their location on our map in the header of the article). These include foundations of houses and cellars, well curbs...
...and sometimes such surprises:
An additional attraction of the Lemko Trail is the terrain mini-gallery "Lemko-Art", which is photographs of works by Lemko artists: local sculptors and stonemasons.
An interesting place is also the mysterious deep Witch's Jar:
Above the former village there is a beautiful viewpoint with a bench:
What happened to Wołtuszowa?
So what actually happened to the former village and where did its inhabitants go? The village was inhabited by Greek Catholic Lemkos, who were forcibly resettled to the USSR at the end of World War II. It is said that each of them took a piece of the church equipment as a souvenir. The abandoned village buildings were burned down by Ukrainian partisans, supposedly so that they would not become a hiding place for Polish units. The abandoned wooden church survived until the 1950s, when it was dismantled due to its poor condition.
Wołtuszowa and the courier trail
During World War II, a courier trail from the General Government to Hungary ran through the village area. Today, the Beskid Courier Route "Jaga - Kora" (Rymanów Zdrój - Polany Surowiczne - Jasiel), which temporarily runs together with the white-blue signs of the Lemko Trail, reminds us of this, among others, by a small chapel with a bench.
Wołtuszowa, local walking trails and Wolf's Glade
Have you noticed that on the red trail, apart from the Lemko Trail and the courier trail, we are also accompanied by other municipal walking trails? One of them turns, for example, to the mysterious Wolf's Glade. There used to be a forester's lodge of Countess Anna Potocka - the founder of the spa, the pre-war owner of the Rymanów estates and at the same time a social activist, merited for the local community.
You can read more about Rymanów-Zdrój, trails and attractions in the area in this article:
Rymanów-Zdrój - Attractions and Trails in the Area
Rymanów-Zdrój is a health resort in the Subcarpathian region of Poland, particularly geared towards welcoming young visitors. This quiet town in the Tabor river valley is surrounded by a rich network of paths and trails amidst the green Rymanów Hills ...
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More in the Region Beskid Niski (Mountain range of the Low Beskids (Beskid Niski))
