Nature

Warsaw Quarry

In the village of Siedlec, in the municipality of Janów, at the top of a forested hill at about 374 m above sea level, one of the most interesting exposures of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland comes to light. The quarry is disused and private, but with no ban on entry — the black trail from Siedlec towards Ostrężnik runs through it.

Limestone that went to Warsaw

The name is no accident: after World War II the limestone slabs won here cladded the buildings of the Polish Sejm, the Council of Ministers and the Peasant's House in Warsaw. The Jurassic limestone stands out for its exceptionally bright, almost white colour.

Geology in a nutshell

The walls expose Upper Jurassic limestones with fossils of sponges, corals and shells of ammonites, brachiopods and bivalves. Flint concretions abound, and the heavily fractured rocks show karst phenomena — a target for geology lovers and photographers alike.

A pine on white rock

In the central part of the exposure grows a pine whose roots have been partly bared at the edge of the wall — a scene reminiscent of the famous rock formations of the Upland, and in full sun the whiteness of the rock is almost dazzling. In 2016 scenes of the Polish-American western "Summer Love" were filmed here.