Krynki Roundabout

Drivers arriving in Krynki for the first time often circle Plac Jagielloński a few times before finding the right exit. From the roundabout in the centre of this small town near the Belarusian border, no fewer than 12 streets radiate outwards – the same number as from Place Charles de Gaulle around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. There is no other layout like it in Poland.

History: a town redesigned from scratch

The present layout dates from after the fires of 1775, which destroyed much of the town. On the initiative of Antoni Tyzenhauz, treasurer of the Lithuanian court, Krynki was replanned, and the plan was drawn up by the Italian architect Giuseppe de Sacco. At its centre he laid out a hexagonal market square from which 12 streets fanned out. Around the square stood the town hall, a market hall, inns and merchants' houses.

The market functioned until the Second World War. In the 1960s the cobbled square was turned into a park with a road around it – creating the roundabout that is now the town's biggest curiosity. Before the war Krynki was largely a Jewish town, and traces of its multicultural past can be found along the streets leading off the square.

Twelve spokes

The streets leaving the roundabout are Garbarska, Wojska Polskiego, 1 Maja, Cerkiewna, Rynkowa, Legionowa, gen. Bema, 11 Listopada, Józefa Piłsudskiego, Sokólska, Kościelna and Grochowa. Many of them lead to historic sites:

• Cerkiewna takes you to the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Virgin,
• Kościelna – to the Catholic church of St Anne,
• off Garbarska – to the ruins of the Great Synagogue,
• on Piłsudskiego stands the so-called Caucasian Synagogue,
• beyond Legionowa lies the large Jewish cemetery with more than 3,000 gravestones.

Tripto tip

The roundabout is open to all at any time and free of charge; park by the square and walk around the park counting the street exits – it takes about 15 minutes. It works best as the starting point for a one- or two-hour walk around Krynki's sights. If you are driving, check on the map beforehand which of the twelve exits you need. Krynki is in Sokółka County, and nearby you can visit Kruszyniany, a village of Poland's Tatar Muslims, with its wooden mosque and cemetery.