Góra Grojec

Góra Grojec (365 m) is a solitary limestone hill that stands out clearly from the fields between Psary and Lubsza in the Woźniki district of Silesia. Its name hints at an old stronghold ("gród" in Polish), and local tales – recorded among others by the 19th-century folklorist Józef Lompa – speak of a castle that sank into the ground. Today the top is covered with beech woodland, protected as a nature reserve since 1996.

History and legends

No trace of a fortified settlement has been found on Grojec, but the shape of the hill has long fired the imagination. According to a legend in Lompa's collection, a wooden castle on the summit was burnt by the Tatars, leaving cellars and tunnels leading to Lubsza; another story makes it the last refuge of a family of robber knights. The 20th-century facts are firmer: until the early 1900s quarries on the hill produced "grojcoki", stones for millstones, and on 1 September 1939 the Polish Kraków Cavalry Brigade held a defensive line here. For years local people also gathered on the summit for festivities, including New Year's Eve.

Góra Grojec nature reserve

The reserve was created on 31 October 1996 and is managed by the Koszęcin forest district. According to the foresters it covers 17.48 ha (other sources give 17.53 ha) and protects woodland of sycamore, beech and fir on limestone. Alongside beech there are spruce, hornbeam and, less often, oak, lime and maple, while the ground flora includes protected mezereon, martagon lily and maidenhair spleenwort. The woods are home to woodpeckers, tits and jays, and adders also occur.

Tripto tip

This is a place for a quiet walk rather than a developed attraction – there is no ticket office, car park or viewing platform. Although the hill is usually linked with Psary, the reserve officially lies within the village area of Lubsza, about 2 km west of the village, and the best starting points are Psary or Lubsza. An hour is enough to climb the hill and loop through the woods. It is loveliest in spring, when the beeches come into leaf, and in autumn. Stay on the paths – the reserve has suffered for years from bikes cutting across the slopes. In Lubsza you can look for traces of Józef Lompa, who lived there until 1863.