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Kampinos
National Park lies
north-west of Warsaw in the immediate neighbourhood of the city. It is the only
national park bordering on a big capital city with over a million inhabitants.
It is also the largest national park of the European lowlands, which stretch from
the Atlantic to the Bug River. The Park was founded in 1959 in order
to protect the remains of the Kampinos Forest in the old valley of the Vistula
River. The current Park area covers 35,000 ha, of which 15% is under strict protection.
History The
area of the Park has a rich history, related also to the battles for Poland's
independence. Traces are the graves of insurgents from the 1863 uprising, war
cemeteries from 1939, and partisan graves from the period between 1939 and 1945,
and civil common grave and monuments. The cemetery in Palmiry is a national memorial
site, where the Nazis killed 2000 inhabitants of Warsaw There
are several historical and architectural monuments of great value in the Park
and its immediate surroundings, such as the Gothic fortified church from the middle
of the 16th Century in Brochow, the wooden church from the 18th century in Kampinos
as well as the mansion in Zelazowa Wola, the birthplace of Frederic Chopin and
the Basilica in Niepokalanow. Tourism
Hiking,
biking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing during winter are allowed in
the Park.There are more than 357 km of marked trails. A total of 15 car parks,
6 resting sites and several camping sites located on the boders of the Park are
at the service of visitors. During the spring and summer season a very attractive
access to the park is provided by the old narrow-gauged railway that leaves from
Sochaczew and leads to Wilcz Tulowski.
Natural
attractions: fauna and vegetation of Kampinos National Park The
Park's landscape offers interesting contrasts. You will find next to each other
sand dunes (at some places more than 28 meters high) and extensive peat-bogs.
The dunes are covered by primeval pine forest, some parts of which are more than
two hundred years old, while the peat-bogs are covered by deciduous forests, mainly
alder carrs and marshy meadows. The
fauna consists of an amazing number of rare species. The emblem of the Kampinos
National Park, the elk, is back again after 150 years of absence from the area.
The European beaver was reintroduced in 1980, after several hundred years of absence,
and the lynx returned to the park in 1992. Also red deer, roe-deer, wild boar,
badgers and foxes inhabit the forest. A
great number of birds live in the Park, which lies on a bird migration route.
Cranes, black storks, white storks, common herons and ravens hatch here. The European
golden eagle the white-tailed eagle and the osprey were seen many times. Over
4,000 species of animals, including amphibians, reptiles and insects, have their
home in the Kampinos National Park. |