Matyska – Golgota Beskidów (Beskids Calvary)

Above Radziechowy, on the ridge separating the Żywiec Basin from the main range of the Silesian Beskids, rises Matyska hill (609 m above sea level). On its summit, known as the Golgota Beskidów (Calvary of the Beskids), stands the Millennium Cross, and a Stations of the Cross trail with stone sculptures leads up the slope. A place long known mainly to local residents, it is now visited by pilgrims and tourists from across the region.

A Stations of the Cross above Żywiec

The calvary was initiated by Monsignor Stanisław Gawlik, longtime parish priest of Radziechowy. The cross was erected on the summit at the end of 2001, and in the following years the provisional stations were replaced with permanent monuments. The works were completed in September 2009; all sculptures were made to designs by Professor Czesław Dźwigaj, and the solemn consecration took place on 12 September 2009. The stations depict the final hours of Christ's life in a striking, expressive form.

The burial mound, processions and the panorama

In 2007, a burial mound was raised beside the cross with soil brought from sites of remembrance, including Katyń and the grave of Stanisław Pyjas. On Good Friday a Stations of the Cross procession sets out here, and New Year's Eve ends with a midnight mass on the summit.

Matyska is also a destination for walks unrelated to pilgrimage. An asphalt road leads almost to the top, with car parks at the foot and near the summit (the road is one-way), so the walk takes only a quarter of an hour or so. From the top the panorama covers nearly a full circle: Skrzyczne rises on the Beskids side, to the south you can see the Little Beskids with Lake Żywiec, and in good visibility also Babia Góra.