Przeczyce Reservoir

Beneath the surface of Przeczyce Reservoir lies the flooded valley of the Czarna Przemsza river, along with remains of field fortifications from the 1930s and the Second World War. The reservoir was created in 1963, when a dam blocked the river where it cuts through a limestone escarpment known as the Middle Triassic Ridge. Today people from the Upper Silesian cities come here to fish, sail and relax by the water.

The reservoir in numbers

Przeczyce Reservoir, also called the Przeczyce–Siewierz Reservoir, spans two municipalities: the eastern part belongs to Siewierz and the western part to Mierzęcice. At maximum level it covers 5.1 km², is 4.2 km long and up to 1.5 km wide, with 13.8 km of shoreline. It's shallow, averaging 4.4 m and reaching 9.1 m at its deepest. It holds about 20.7 million m³ of water. Siewierz, Przeczyce, Boguchwałowice, Duże Chmielowskie and Tuliszów lie on its shores.

The reservoir protects against floods and keeps a steady flow in the Czarna Przemsza below the dam, which the combined heat and power plant in Będzin depends on. Water used to be diverted through an intake in the dam to the Brynica river basin, but that hasn't happened since the mid-1990s.

Nature and traces of history

Pike, bream and tench live in the water, and Canadian waterweed, broad-leaved pondweed and water plantain grow in the reservoir. All around, the rolling hills of the Silesian Upland are covered with forests and fields. Nearby are the remains of the Silesia Fortified Area, built in the 1930s to defend Poland's border, some of which now lie underwater.

Tripto tip

• Fishing and sailing are the main activities. Check permits and the water manager's rules before you fish.
• Swimming: only use bathing areas designated for the current season. The official list is on the Polish sanitary inspectorate's bathing water website (Serwis Kąpieliskowy GIS).
• Getting there: pick a specific village on the shore, such as Przeczyce, Boguchwałowice or Siewierz, because the shoreline is scattered and there's no single main access point.
• Combine with: the castle ruins in Siewierz.