Tenczynek Landscape Park (''Tenczyński Park Krajobrazowy'') is a protected area ( a Landscape Park) in 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 ...

, established in 1981, and covering an area of . The Park lies within Lesser Poland Voivodeship: in

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

( Gmina Chrzanów,

Gmina Alwernia __NOTOC__ Gmina Alwernia is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Chrzanów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the town of Alwernia, which lies approximately south-east of Chrzanów and west of the reg ...

, Gmina Babice, Gmina Trzebinia) and Kraków County (

Gmina Krzeszowice __NOTOC__ Gmina Krzeszowice is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the town of Krzeszowice, which lies approximately west of the regional capital Kraków. T ...

Gmina Liszki __NOTOC__ Gmina Liszki is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Liszki, which lies approximately west of the regional capital Kraków. The gmina cover ...

Gmina Wielka Wieś __NOTOC__ Gmina Wielka Wieś is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Wielka Wieś, which lies approximately north-west of the regional capital Kraków ...

Gmina Zabierzów __NOTOC__ Gmina Zabierzów is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Zabierzów, which lies approximately north-west of the regional capital Kraków. T ...

). It takes its name from the village of

Tenczynek Tenczynek (pronounce: ) is a small village in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in Gmina Krzeszowice, about 25 km west of the city of Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest ...

in Gmina Krzeszowice. Within the Landscape Park are five

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, or features of geological or ...

s. About 35% of the park's area is covered by forests. Carpathian beech forests, mixed

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

forests, alder riparian forests and broadleaved forests with a predominance of beech, oak and

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

grow here. Pine forests dominate in the area of the Dulowska Primeval Forest. Protected plant species can be found here: rolling hen-and-chicks, monkshood,

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

martagon lily ''Lilium martagon'', the martagon lily or Turk's cap lily, is a Eurasian species of lily. It has a widespread native region extending from Portugal east through Europe and Asia as far east as Mongolia. Description It is stem-rooting, growing be ...

, sweet woodruff, goat's beard,

round-leaved sundew ''Drosera rotundifolia'', the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribution ...

, dwarf periwinkle and

giant horsetail Giant horsetails are usually living species of horsetail that grow to very large sizes, more than 1.5 metres (5 ft). The following species are commonly known as "giant horsetails": * '' Equisetum giganteum'' (southern giant horsetail, from Lati ...

; and animals: moose, Eurasian sparrowhawk, barn owl, common buzzard, northern lapwing,

corn crake The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- ...

and

European pond turtle The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the Western Palearc ...

Tenczyn Castle

Tenczynek Landscape Park is the location of a medieval

Tenczyn Castle Tenczyn Castle, also known as ''Tęczyn Castle'', is a medieval castle in the village of Rudno, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Rudno in the Polish Jura, Poland. It was built as a seat of the powerful Tęczyński family. The castle fell into disrepair ...

built around 1570 as a seat of the powerful Tęczyński family. The castle fell into ruin during the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...

in mid-17th century, after being pillaged and burned by Swedish-

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

ian forces looking for the

Polish Crown Jewels The only surviving original piece of the Polish Crown Jewels ( pl, Polskie Klejnoty Koronne) from the time of the Piast dynasty is the ceremonial sword – Szczerbiec. It is currently on display along with other preserved royal items at the W ...

and the rumored treasures of the Tęczyński family.

References

External links

{{coord, 50.099716, 19.644911, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark

Parks in Lesser Poland Voivodeship