Karczmarz z Waliszewa (Innkeeper of Waliszewo)

At a crossroads near the village of Waliszewo stands a smiling innkeeper with a jug in his hand and a towel over his arm. He looks like a welcoming host – until you walk around him. The sculpture, known locally as Karczmarz z Waliszewa (the Innkeeper of Waliszewo), is a stop on the Trail of Myths and Legends of Gniezno County and recalls a dark tale about the Red Inn, where travellers were said to vanish without a trace.

The legend of the Red Inn

On a small, tree-lined square where the roads from Gniezno to Kłecko and from Waliszewo to Dziećmiarki meet, there stood an inn called Waliszewek before 1840. According to local tradition, its keeper gladly welcomed guests only to kill them, rob them and bury them nearby. That is how it got the name Red Inn (Czerwona Karczma; the trail board calls it Czerwona Oberża). In 1840 the building burned down and was never rebuilt; the story does not say what became of the innkeeper.

What the ground really held

There is a rational explanation. Nearby lay a much older early medieval burial ground, and the human bones that locals linked to the innkeeper's crimes came from there. As late as the 1930s and 1940s, fragments of skeletons and early medieval objects were still being found in a local gravel pit. The case was described by archaeologist Jacek Wrzesiński in the journal "Studia Lednickie" (1994).

What to look for

• The innkeeper holds a jug and a towel, but keeps one hand behind his back. Walk round to the side – the trail's website captions this detail as "the innkeeper's murder weapon".
• At his feet lies a dog with a bone in its mouth – a clear nod to the bones that started the legend.
• The figure stands on a granite plinth, next to a trail board with a map and the story, and a covered picnic shelter with a table and benches.

The Trail of Myths and Legends

Waliszewo is one of the stops on a trail linking folk tales from around Gniezno, the first capital of Poland. Along the way you'll find the legend of the brothers Lech, Czech and Rus and stories of the Gniezno executioners, the three-headed dragon of Drachowo, the robber Maciej of Modliszewo, Izyda of Małachowo Złych Miejsc and a village said to have sunk at Głęboczek. The whole route can comfortably be covered by car or bike in a day.

Tripto tip

The sculpture stands in the open and can be visited at any time, free of charge. 10–15 minutes is enough, and the shelter makes a good break on a cycling trip. The square is next to a busy road, so keep an eye on children and don't walk onto the surrounding fields. Waliszewo is about 14 km north-west of Gniezno, on the road to Kłecko. Nearby you can see the wooden St Catherine's Church in Waliszewo (1759), Ostrów Lednicki island with remains of an early Piast stronghold, and the wooden St Rosalia's Chapel in Sławno.