Giewont

You can hardly miss it from the centre of Zakopane: the limestone massif of Giewont rises above the town in an almost vertical 600-metre wall, and for generations its outline has been compared to a sleeping knight. On Wielki Giewont (1,895 m) stands an iron cross from 1901, the goal of one of the most popular hikes in the Polish Tatras. This is a mountain that demands respect, though: the final stretch runs along chains, and in a thunderstorm the summit is one of the most dangerous places in the range.

The symbol of Zakopane

The massif is 2.7 km long and has three summits: Wielki Giewont (1,895 m), Długi Giewont (1,868 m) and Mały Giewont (1,739 m). It lies in the Western Tatras, inside Tatra National Park, between the Strążyska, Mała Łąka, Kondratowa and Bystra valleys. In the 19th century it was called the "king of Zakopane" – in 1880 the painter Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski wrote that it could be seen from almost every cottage. One version of a well-known Polish legend says that knights sleep inside Giewont and will wake when Poland faces great danger; the walls of the massif are riddled with caves, and one of them is even called the Cave of the Sleeping Knights.

The summit cross

The idea came from Zakopane's parish priest, Father Kazimierz Kaszelewski, who wanted to mark the 1,900th anniversary of the birth of Christ. The cross is 17.5 m tall (2.5 m of it is anchored in the rock) and is made of around 400 iron parts produced by the Górecki factory in Kraków. The parts came by rail and horse cart to the Hala Kondratowa meadow, and from there local parishioners carried them to the top by hand – around five hundred people helped. Assembly took place from 3 to 9 July 1901, and the cross was consecrated on 19 August. Since 2007 it has been a listed monument.

Trails and chains

Three popular routes lead to Wielki Giewont, all meeting near the Kondracka Pass:

• blue trail from Kuźnice via Kalatówki and the Hala Kondratowa mountain hut – about 3 hours up according to trail maps,
• red trail from the Strążyska Valley via Polana Strążyska and the Grzybowiec Pass – about 3 hours to the Upper Kondracka Pass plus 15 minutes to the top,
• yellow trail from Gronik through the Mała Łąka Valley – about 2 hours 45 minutes to the Kondracka Pass and 30 minutes to the summit.

The last section below the top is rocky, secured with chains and one-way: you go up on the right-hand side (seen from below) and come down the other. In season, in good weather, long queues form here.

Thunderstorms and the Kirkor Gully

Giewont is extremely dangerous in a thunderstorm. On 22 August 2019 lightning struck the summit dome: four people died, including two children, and more than a hundred were injured. A similar tragedy had already happened in 1937, during a pilgrimage to the cross. The second danger is the Kirkor Gully (Żleb Kirkora), which drops from the Giewont Pass – by 2003 more than 20 hikers had died there after leaving the trail to shorten their way down.

Interesting facts

• In 1858 the writer Maria Steczkowska noted that locals used the notch in Giewont's ridge as a clock: when the sun stood above it, it was noon.
• The oldest written records of Giewont concern a 16th-century copper mine called "Gyewant".
• Chamois spend the winter on Giewont's rock walls – one of the few such places in the Polish Tatras.
• You can see the cross through a telescope from the top of Gubałówka hill.

Tripto tip

Allow 5–8 hours for the whole hike, including breaks. Start early: the chains are less crowded in the morning, and summer storms in the Tatras usually build up in the afternoon. If dark clouds gather, turn back before the chained section and never take shortcuts down. You need an entry ticket for Tatra National Park (sold at trailheads and online), and dogs are not allowed on the trails. The best view of the "sleeping knight" silhouette is from the Równia Krupowa meadow in central Zakopane.

Tickets, opening hours and getting there 2026

• Tatra National Park entry (as of October 2026): PLN 11, reduced PLN 5.50, 7-day ticket PLN 55 / 27.50. Reduced tickets apply to pupils, students, pensioners and visitors with disabilities, among others; children under 7 and Large Family Card holders enter free. Buy at the trailhead booth, online or via the QR code at the entrance.
• Ticket booths at Kalatówki, Dolina Strążyska and Dolina Małej Łąki: from October 15 until 3 pm; November, December and January 8 am–2 pm; February–April 7 am–3 pm; July and August 6 am–5 pm. Outside these hours buy online or via QR code.
• No hiking at night: from March 1 to November 30, park trails are closed between dusk and dawn.
• Getting to Kuźnice: the road from the John Paul II roundabout (rondo kuźnickie) to Kuźnice is closed to private cars. Minibuses marked "Kuźnice" run from Zakopane bus station, and there are stops at the roundabout.
• Parking: the national park runs a paid car park on ul. Chałubińskiego, PLN 30 per car for the whole day.
• Trail works: in October 2026 the section Wielka Polana Małołącka – Przełęcz w Grzybowcu – Wyżnia Kondracka Przełęcz is under repair; take extra care there.
• Autumn conditions: in mid-October 2026, hard frozen snow and ice lie above about 1,850 m, so the rocks and chains below the summit can be very slippery. Check the park's trail bulletin before you set off.