St Anne's Mountain Geopark

St Anne's Mountain (Góra Świętej Anny), known for its sanctuary and Calvary, is also a former volcano. Some 27 million years ago a cone of lava and tuff rose here, and the dark rock on which the monastery stands is what remains of it. Since 1 June 2010 the area has been a national geopark – one of three in Poland – with a reserve in a former quarry and a 10-kilometre geological trail.

A volcano beneath the monastery

In the Tertiary, 27–15 million years ago, the Alpine mountain-building movements fractured the Earth's crust and hundreds of volcanoes formed across Silesia. The volcano at St Anne's Mountain was born around 27 million years ago, as radiometric dating has confirmed. In its final phase a violent eruption emptied the magma chamber, which collapsed under the weight of the surrounding rock and formed a caldera; blocks of basalt, tuff and Cretaceous and Triassic rocks slid several dozen metres down. Volcanic activity then died out and erosion stripped away the remains of the cone. The dark volcanic rock is nephelinite, called basalt in older descriptions. Around it, pale shelly limestones are exposed, full of fossils from the warm Triassic sea.

The geopark in numbers

The national geopark status was announced at an open-air event called "Meeting on the Volcano". The geopark lies entirely within the St Anne's Mountain Landscape Park (5,051 ha) and covers more than half of it. A 10-kilometre walking and cycling trail with 11 geosites and information boards runs through it: from the nephelinite quarry on St Anne's Mountain via the Krowiok Valley, the rock amphitheatre and the Biesiec reserve to the quarry and xerothermic vegetation reserve in Ligota Dolna. The geopark is looked after by the Leśnica municipality.

What to see

• The geological reserve in the nephelinite quarry – about 5.25 ha criss-crossed by paths with information boards; the entrance is about 150 m north of the "Pod Górą Chełmską" inn.
• The rock amphitheatre – on the site of a mid-19th-century limestone quarry, an amphitheatre for 7,000 seated and 43,000 standing spectators was built in 1934–1938 for Third Reich political rallies; it was one of the largest in the world at the time. Fossils can be seen in the paving slabs and seats.
• The lime kiln – about 100 m south of the amphitheatre, a reminder of lime burning in the old quarry.
• The Krowiok Valley and the Biesiec reserve – further geosites along the trail.

Tripto tips

The quarry reserve alone takes 45–60 minutes, the whole trail to Ligota Dolna half a day. Entry is free. In the reserve, stay on the marked paths and do not collect rocks; it can be slippery after rain and in winter. The Opole Landscape Parks Authority offers a free geological guide as a PDF – worth downloading before you go. The walk combines easily with a visit to the basilica and the Calvary; for information about the geopark contact the Leśnica municipality (tel. 77 461 53 91).