Ostrężnik Nature Reserve

Ostrężnik Nature Reserve covers just 4.1 ha, yet it holds a limestone rock riddled like Swiss cheese, the ruins of a mysterious 14th-century fortress and a spring that flows only when it pleases. It was created in 1960 to protect a patch of natural beech forest around the ruins. It lies by the road from Janów to Żarki, within the Eagles' Nests Landscape Park and the Natura 2000 site "Ostoja Złotopotocka".

A castle we know almost nothing about

The chronicles are almost silent about the fortress on Ostrężnik rock. Tradition credited its construction to Duke Władysław of Opole, but archaeological research in 2000–2003 points rather to the early 14th century and Bishop Jan Muskata of Kraków. The absence of later layers suggests the castle may never have been finished, or was used only very briefly. The walls of the upper castle were about 144 m long and about 2 m thick, with a square tower projecting on the south side. Today only fragments of walls and ramparts under a metre high remain, hidden among the beeches.

Ostrężnicka Cave and the Springs of Events

In the rock beneath the ruins runs Ostrężnicka Cave – a group of chambers and passages about 98 m long in total, with six openings. The main, smoothly water-carved portal is about 5 m high and 3 m wide. The cave is part of a former karst spring, and potholes in the ceiling show that water once flowed through under pressure. The chambers probably served as the castle's cellars; a door said to have led to the dungeons can be seen today in the church at Złoty Potok. At the foot of the rock is an intermittent karst spring called the Źródła Zdarzeń ("Springs of Events") – it appears and disappears irregularly, and people once believed it foretold important events.

Legends and war

According to legend the castle was home to robber knights whose treasure was buried in the cave. Another story says that after the battle at Śmiertny Dąb on 9 July 1863 insurgents of the January Uprising against Russian rule hid their unit's documents and funds here. Treasure hunters dug up the cave many times, and during the Second World War the local caves sheltered partisans.

Tripto tip

On regional road 793, by the first houses of the hamlet of Ostrężnik, there is a small lay-by with information boards – from there a short forest path leads to the rock. The reserve is crossed by the red Eagles' Nests Trail and the blue Jurassic Strongholds Trail, as well as the "Tropem tajemnic" (On the Trail of Mysteries) nature path (1.5 km). Entry is free. Allow about an hour for the ruins, the cave from outside and the spring; only go inside the cave with a torch and sturdy shoes. The trip extends easily to Złoty Potok and its reserves.