Niepołomice Forest () is a large

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

complex in western part of

Sandomierz Basin Sandomierz Basin () is a lowland, located in southeastern Poland, between the Lesser Poland Upland, Lublin Upland and the Western Carpathians. Its name comes from the historical city of Sandomierz, and the basin has a triangular shape with the s ...

, about east of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

(center).Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
Niepołomice Forest (Southern Poland): Changes during 30 Years
Vol. 12, No. 2 (2003), 239-244 ''(PDF file)''. It is made up of a few protected areas which used to constitute a single virgin forest originally. Niepołomice Forest occupies an area between

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

and Raba rivers. The main complex covers about . It is situated between the towns of

Niepołomice Niepołomice (pronounced ) is a town in southern Poland, seat of Gmina Niepołomice in the Wieliczka County in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is situated on the Vistula River, on the verge of the large virgin Niepołomice Forest. There is ...

, Baczków, Krzyżanowice and

Mikluszowice Mikluszowice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Drwinia, within Bochnia County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south of Drwinia, north of Bochnia, and east of the regional capital Krakó ...

. The name ''Niepołomice'' derives from the ''

Old Polish language The Old Polish language () was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old Polish language are the data of the co ...

'' word ''niepołomny'' which meant "impassable", or "impossible to destroy" or conquer.

Description

The forest consists of six

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s with the total area of 94.43

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s. The biggest reserve, called Gibiel (29.79 ha), covers the area with the most diverse flora and fauna, featuring 175 species of birds as well as

European bison The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

wolve The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey ...

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

, and

wild cats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

.Puszcza Niepołomicka. Charakterystyka obszaru
at Polska.pl The next reserve, called Lipówka (25.73 ha), features 200-year-old nature monuments, mainly lime trees, oaks and

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

s. The slightly smaller Długosz Królewski Reserve, with an area of 24.14 ha (not far from the village of Stanisławice), was established for the protection of a rare flowering

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

named ''

Osmunda regalis ''Osmunda regalis'', or royal fern, is a species of deciduous fern, native to Europe, Africa and Asia, growing in woodland bogs and on the banks of streams. The species is sometimes known as flowering fern due to the appearance of its fertile fro ...

'' (). The reserve called Dębina (12.66 ha) is set up for the preservation of ancient oak trees. Koło Reserve, with a smaller area of 3.49 ha, consists of lime trees and hornbeams. The reserve called Wiślisko Kobyle (6.67 ha) is devoted to water plants. In the heart of Niepołomice Forest is the most protected area inhabited by the Polish

wisent The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...

(''Żubr''), the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe - The European Bison Breeding Centre of the Niepołomice Forest District.

History

Because of its close proximity to Kraków, then the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of Poland, Niepołomice Forest was the most popular hunting ground for the Polish royalty beginning in the 13th century. In its vicinity, King Casimir III the Great built the Royal hunting Castle, later rebuilt by

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV of P ...

and fitted with the Queen Bona Sforza's gardens. The first official mention of the Niepołomice Forest comes from a document written in 1242, calling it "Kłaj". In 1393, the forest is mentioned as ''Niepołomice Woods'' (Las Niepołomicki), and in 1441 – for the first time, it was written about under its current name. Throughout its entire history, the forest was owned by the state – by the Polish kings between 13th and 18th centuries until the military

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, and after liberation, by the sovereign state of Poland.J.Paprota
Puszcza Niepołomicka (The Niepołomice Forest).
History. Long horned european wild ox

The early road leading through the forest was called the Royal Road (''see also: the Royal Road of Kraków'' terminating at the

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

in the heart of the city). It was traveled by prominent Polish kings hunting for

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

, the

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

(extinct since 1627, ''pictured''), wisent, and other big game. The forest was a source of major wood construction material. It was looked after by foresters and Masters of the Royal Hunt. During the military

, from 1795 on, the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

(controlling the province for well over a century) destroyed most of the

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

and replanted that area with fast growing pine trees meant for commerce. Even more thorough destruction of what remained of Niepołomice Forest came about during the

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

between 1939 and 1945. The trees were cut indiscriminately and shipped to military bases and battle fronts across Europe. War crimes were being committed in the area by the Nazis, with Poles and Jews from the neighbouring towns of

Bochnia Bochnia is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland, administrative seat of Bochnia County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted ...

and

murdered deep in the woods. There are numerous mass graves in the forest including those of Polish soldiers from 156 Infantry Regiment of Army Kraków, killed on September 9, 1939, as well as those of local partisans who died before the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Among the 40 hostages executed there on December 11, 1942, was the heroic President of Kraków, Dr

Stanisław Klimecki Stanisław Klimecki (November 20, 1883 – December 11, 1942) was a Polish lawyer, social activist, and the President of Kraków at the time of the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. He served as president only for a few weeks, before ...

. At present, the forest is maintained according to modern forestry practices. Very old trees are generally rare. The program of reconstruction began in postwar Poland around the mid 20th century, including the reinstatement of native plants in drawn-out areas.

Tourism

The forest is transversed by several walking trails including a bicycle trail and the newly open

educational trail An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural, techn ...

complete with informational placards about the local

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

. Among the trails which lead deep into the forest, there is the Niepołomice – Poszyna (green) trail called the Royal Road, and the two trails each , Grodkowice – Błoto – Sitowiec, and the Podłęże – Przyborów – Sitowiec (blue) trail leading to mass graves of Poles and Jews from World War II. There is also the Stanisławice (red) trail leading toward the perimeter of the wisent reserve; however, the reserve is not accessible to visitors.Bogusław Młynarczyk, ''Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej'', Regionalna Dyrekcja Lasów Państwowych w Krakowie, Nadleśnictwo Niepołomice
Zachowawczy Ośrodek Hodowli Żubra ''(Wisent reserve)''
an
Szlaki turystyczne ''(The trails)''
/ref> All trails are designed and maintained by the Forestry Inspectorate of Niepołomice. Virginia Wąsikowska

(''Trails, including public transport'')

References

Cited sources Further reading * Leszek Bartkowicz
"Potencjalne konsekwencje hodowlane spontanicznego różnicowania strukturyw drzewostanach „borowego” kompleksu Puszczy Niepołomickiej"
Forest Research Papers, 2008, Vol. 69 (1): 41–47. * Wojciech Chełmicki, Stanisław Ciszewski, Mirosław Żelazny
"Reconstructing ground-water level fluctuations in 20th century Niepołomice Forest"
ERB and Northern European FRIEND Project 5 Conference, Demänovská dolina, Slovakia, 2002 * Pawel Kapusta, Grazyna Szarek-Lukaszewska, Józef Kiszka
"Spatial analysis of lichen species richness in Niepolomice Forest"
The Lichenologist (2004), 36:249-260 Cambridge University Press * Stanisław Orzeł, Agricultural University of Cracow

Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities, 2007, Volume 10, Issue 2. {{DEFAULTSORT:Niepolomice Forest Forests of Poland Geography of Lesser Poland Voivodeship Parks in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Natura 2000 in Poland Holocaust locations in Poland

Description

History

Tourism

See also

References