The Siedlec Desert ( pl, Pustynia Siedlecka) is an area of sand near the village of Siedlec, district of Gmina Janów, within

Częstochowa County __NOTOC__ Częstochowa County ( pl, powiat częstochowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gover ...

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian V ...

, in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland area of southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The "desert" was formed during sand-mining operations, with the sand itself coming from a buried Jurassic-era sea-bed. The sand-mine finally closed in the 1960's. The desert covers approximately 30 hectares, of which 25 hectares is sand and the rest is made up by a pond and pine-trees planted in the area during the 1960's. The dunes at Siedlec reach up to 30 meters high and mirages are visible there in summer. Local legend has it that the desert was formed when a clever sorcerer pursued by the Devil escaped through the gates of hell, leaving the area around scorched. The desert forms part of the Olsztyńsko-Gorzkowskie micro-region, and the dunes within it are the result of

Aeolian processes Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit material ...

The area has been used in motor sports to allow racing in desert-style conditions. An annual festival held by local villagers involves dressing up as

bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siedlec Desert Deserts of Poland Deserts of Europe