Gardens

Historic Park in Złoty Potok

The green axis of Złoty Potok sets the rhythm of this Jura village: the historic park stretches along the Wiercica stream, next to voivodeship road 793, near the buildings on Kosciuszki Street. The old layout can still be read as a coherent period plan — a limestone wall with three gates encloses the grounds, while inside, the Birch Avenue, Hornbeam Avenue and the famous Maple Avenue intersect.

The composition is the work of the Krasiński family, owners of the Złoty Potok estate for decades. In the times of General Wincenty Krasiński, the Maple Avenue was laid out; his carriage regularly travelled it on the way to Jasna Góra. Within the park stand a manor house from 1829, where the poet Zygmunt Krasiński spent the summer of 1857, and a classicist palace built in 1856. After Zygmunt's death the estate passed to his daughter Maria, from 1877 the wife of Count Edward Raczyński — hence the building is now known as the Raczyński Palace.

What to see

Beyond the palace and the manor house, the former estate office building survives, now home to the Złoty Potok Forest District with a nature exhibition about the Jura. The historic layout is complemented by old trees and avenues. A local anecdote ties the story together: the nursery standing by the park was attended as a child by Jan Kiepura, later a tenor with a worldwide career.

Practical information

The park lies in Złoty Potok in the Silesian Voivodeship, on the route between Częstochowa and Kraków. The grounds are open to the public free of charge, with no opening-hour restrictions, and a visit combines naturally with a walk along the Wiercica and a trip across the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. The village itself, first mentioned in 1153, also holds historic buildings worth a detour.