Hercules' Club (Maczuga Herkulesa)

A limestone column about 25 m high, narrower at the bottom than at the top, stands on a rock terrace 8–12 m above the floor of the Prądnik Valley, right next to Pieskowa Skała Castle. Hercules' Club (Maczuga Herkulesa) is one of the best-known rocks in Poland and the symbol of Ojców National Park, north of Kraków. Folk imagination had a ready explanation for its odd shape: the devil had set it upside down.

How it formed

The rock is made of hard limestone. Its shape is the result of karst processes and uneven resistance to weathering: the softer parts wore away faster, leaving the harder core standing as a solitary club. To the west it adjoins a rock called Fortepian ("Grand Piano"), on which Pieskowa Skała Castle stands — both are part of the same terrace. To the east are three more rocks with charming names: Mickiewicz Rock, Chopin Rock and Napoleon.

Four names, four legends

The current name refers to the shape, but the rock has had others, each with its own story:

• Krak's Club — the legendary Prince Krak killed a dragon with it and then planted it at the mouth of the valley as a warning to Kraków's enemies.
• Falcon Rock — an unjustly imprisoned peasant was promised freedom if he brought a falcon chick from the top of the rock; the falcons themselves carried him to the summit.
• Devil's Rock — carrying out a task for the sorcerer Twardowski, a Polish Faust figure, the devil brought the rock to the Prądnik Valley and stood it on its narrower end.
• Twardowski's Rock — in the version recorded by Stanisław Ciszewski in 1887, the devils carrying Twardowski turned the rock with its broad end upwards.

Who reached the top

Locals said that 19th-century Englishmen were the first to climb it, but there is no evidence for this. Many guidebooks claim the first ascent was made in 1933 by Leon Witek, who used ladders and metal clamps and placed a cross on the summit. Kraków climbers known as the Penitents (Pokutnicy) — Adam Górka and Kazimierz Paszucha — climbed the rock free in 1935 and, in protest against Witek's style, removed his cross, only to put it back on their second ascent. Both versions turned out to be wrong, though: the first confirmed ascent was made by Ludwik Ziemblic and Franciszek Żurek in 1913. Since the national park was established, climbing the rock has been forbidden.

Tripto tip

The yellow trail from Pieskowa Skała via Sąspów and the Sąspowska Valley to Ojców runs right past the rock, so it is easy to combine with a longer walk or a visit to the castle. The rock itself is a 15–20 minute stop; the best view is from the road on the valley floor, where you can see it together with the castle on the Fortepian rock. It is one of the most photographed rocks in the country, so for a shot without crowds come early in the morning or out of season. Remember that this is a national park — stay on the trails and do not climb the rocks.