Green Velo

Sandomierz is a city that inspires creators and artists, enthralling you with the uniqueness of its monuments and curiosities of nature. Loess ravines lead to historic churches, the Vistula wraps Sandomierz’s escarpments like a shawl, and the charming streets of the historic centre lead to places of natural interest. It is worth getting to know the area around Sandomierz, a place with a rich history, Pieprzowe Mountains with a rose garden and protected species of birds, and to try the fruits of Sandomierz’s orchards – just to let you get carried away with the enchantments of Sandomierz ...

The trip begins at the car park near the Opatowska Gate. Subsequently, follow the black trail beside the monastery. After leaving the historic city centre, you have to keep going to the intersection with national Road No. 77. Lipowa Street introduces you to the route with small undulations, straight into the atmosphere of the Sandomierz Land – full of fields, meadows and orchards with tasty fruit. Along the way, on top of a vast high ground, the Chocim Lantern is visible, and as you approach Nowe Kichary, there are the ruins of a chapel.

The route leads along the Opatówka River among orchards and vast vineyards. In Dwikozy, you need to pass the chapel. You can extend the trip to Zawichost [variant]. Passing over the bridge and the Opatówka River, it is worth paying attention to the church on a hill. Through Mściów and along the railway tracks, you arrive to Kamień Łukawski, and then a route with significant elevation differences of the area leads to the vicinity of Pieprzowe Mountains. At the foot of the preserve, there is a shelter (you can rest). It is worthwhile approaching the red trail in the upper parts of the preserve. The area calls for a longer stay, because of the wonderful view of Sandomierz and the oxbow of the Vistula. You enter the city by anti-flooding shafts in the vicinity of the Vistula River, below the city ring road next to the agricultural market, and then down Browarna Street towards the starting place. Sightseeing of a city with more than 120 monuments from different eras awaits tourists!

Route:

• Sandomierz – parking w pobliżu Bramy Opatowskiej (0,0 km)
• Sucharzów – Sucha – 4,5km
• Nowe Kichary – 7,5km
• Dwikozy – 11,5km
• Mściów – 14,5km
• Kamień Łukawski – 18km
• Sandomierz – 23,6km

Route options:

Dwikozy–Zawichost–Dwikozy (20 km stretch of provincial Road No. 777)

In Dwikozy, you should extend the trip to Zawichost through Słupcza and Winiary. The route goes via an asphalt road in the vicinity of the Vistula. In Zawichost, the origins of which date back to the Middle Ages, there are numerous tangible cultural monuments: the Church of St John the Baptist from the 13th century, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish church and the parish Church of the Holy Trinity. At Leonard Street, it is worth seeing a stone obelisk used to measure the water level on the Vistula River, dating from the time of the Russian partition, showing the height above the Baltic Sea level and which is used to measure the water level on the Vistula.

Surface:

• Asphalt: 70% (with low car traffic)
• Dirt and gravel roads: 30%
• Grass paving blocks (near the Pieprzowe Mountains preserve): about 1 km
• Sandomierz – Nowe Kichary: dirt and gravel roads
• Dwikozy – Kamień Łukawski: alongside railway tracks, party dirt road

The route is marked with the character of a loop:

Direct access from the Green Velo trail along the boulevard on the Vistula River at the foot of the royal castle
Marking by the standards of the PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society) in different colours:

• Sandomierz – national Road No. 77: black, blue, yellow
• National Road No. 77 – Nowe Kichary: blue, black
• Nowe Kichary – Dwikozy: blue, yellow
• Dwikozy – Kamień Łukawski: red walking trail

Tourist attractions on the trial:

• Sandomierz – Old Town, www.sandomierz.travel
• Opatowska Gate, the monastery complex of the Benedictine sisters from the 17th century, the underground tourist route, the cathedral, the royal castle, the historic marketplace.
• Nowe Kichary – ruins of the Chapel of St Rocha from the 17th century.
• Opatówka River Valley – orchards and extensive vineyards. The valley shows signs of its unusual geological past, which can be seen in quarries, slopes and open pits. Noteworthy are the buildings’ cellars, belonging to Sandomierz Vineyard, hollowed out in the loess.
• Dwikozy – chapel from the 19th century, elevated Church of St Andrew Bobola and St Anthony the Hermit of the 20th century.
• Pieprzowe Mountains – a range of hills made of Cambrian shale created 500 million years ago. With their colour and shape, they resemble scattered grains of pepper. At the foot of the preserve is a board with a map of Pieprzowe Mountains.