Mountains & peaks

Ślęża Mountain

The granite dome rising to 718 m above sea level over the Sudetic Foreland is visible from afar, including from the A4 motorway. Ślęża is the highest peak of its massif and of the entire Sudetic Foreland, known as the Silesian Olympus. It belongs to the Crown of Polish Mountains and the Crown of the Sudetes, and its relative height of more than 500 metres offers a genuine mountain ascent within reach of a day trip from Wrocław, Świdnica or Wałbrzych.

A mountain of cult and stone sculptures

Ślęża remained a centre of solar worship as late as the 11th century — the chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg noted that the mountain was held in great veneration for its size and the rites performed on it. Stone cult structures are dated to the period from the 13th to the 5th century BC. The granite sculptures on the summit come from those times: the Bear, the symbol of the massif, and the Monk, a monolith taller than 2 metres. The Maiden with the Fish and the Bear bear the mark of a slanting cross, once linked to the cult of the sun.

On the summit

The summit is occupied by the church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary from 1852, whose underground levels reveal Romanesque walls; a castle of Bolko II the Small once stood here, destroyed by a storm in 1543. Nearby await a free 12-metre concrete observation tower with three storeys, the millennium cross from 2000, an antenna mast from 1958 and the Roman Zmorski tourist house from 1908.

Trails

The shortest route to the summit follows the yellow trail from Przełęcz Tąpadła pass: 3.2 km, about 1.5 hours and 339 m of ascent. The classic choice is the red Slezan Trail from Sobótka — 5.2 km, about 2 hours of walking and 536 m of ascent. The blue variant from the same town is shorter but steeper, and at the Tąpadła pass between Ślęża and Radunia there are forest car parks and a snack bar.

In practice

Entry is free and possible all year round, also after dark. The car is left at the car park on Armii Krajowej Street in Sobótka, paid in season. If you plan the route through the Tąpadła pass, it is worth adding a walk to the neighbouring Wieżyca with its renovated Bismarck tower from 1907.