Green Pond in Złoty Potok

This small pond on the upper Wiercica has two names: a plain one, the Green Pond, and a poetic one, "A Midsummer Night's Dream". According to local tradition the second was coined by the Romantic poet Zygmunt Krasiński, who spent the summer of 1857 naming the rocks, springs and ponds around Złoty Potok. The dyke that holds back the water drove the wooden Kołaczew watermill for more than two centuries, and all around lies the Parkowe nature reserve with a cave where Krasiński found the bones of prehistoric animals.

History: a mill, a poet and trout

The Green Pond is a small reservoir whose dyke created the drop needed to turn the mill wheel. The Kołaczew mill is first recorded in 1473, and the present wooden building dates from 1807. Six watermills once worked on the Wiercica around Złoty Potok; this is the only survivor. In the 1950s the water wheel was removed and the machinery switched to electricity.

In the 19th century the estate belonged to the Krasiński family, and from 1881 to the Raczyńskis. Count Edward Raczyński then founded one of Europe's first trout farms by the Wiercica springs, designed by Michał Girdwoyń. The breeding ponds still stretch below the springs, with the Green Pond just beyond them. Krasiński stayed in Złoty Potok from May to 20 September 1857, and many local names are credited to him, including the Irydion pond in front of the palace.

A note for the curious: some sources treat the Green Pond and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as the same body of water, others list the two names separately. On the ground the landmark matters more: the pond lies by the Kołaczew mill and regional road 793, about 1.5 km south-west of the village centre.

What to see nearby

• Kołaczew mill from 1807, a wooden industrial monument right by the pond.
• The Spring of Fulfilled Dreams – local custom says you should drink the water and throw a green stone over your shoulder while thinking of your wish.
• The Elżbieta and Zygmunt springs, the source of the Wiercica, whose names are also linked to Krasiński's stay.
• Bear Cave (Grota Niedźwiedzia) – a cave about 70 m long that Krasiński described in 1857. Later research turned up the remains of mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and cave bear, and Stone Age hunters once sheltered here.
• The Devil's Bridges and Twardowski Gate rock formations in the Parkowe reserve.

Interesting facts

The Parkowe reserve was created on 3 September 1957 and since 2011 has covered 234.13 ha. It lies within the Eagles' Nests Landscape Park and the Natura 2000 site "Ostoja Złotopotocka". Nearby, on 3 September 1939, Major Jan Wrzosek was killed: an Olympic sport shooter and holder of the Virtuti Militari, he commanded the 3rd battalion of the 74th Infantry Regiment and died firing an anti-tank rifle at a German tank.

Tripto tip

Park by the Kołaczew mill; there is also parking in the centre of Złoty Potok. The pond and springs are freely accessible, and a loop taking in the palace, the trout farm, the pond and the springs takes 2–3 hours on foot. Entry to Bear Cave must be arranged with the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Katowice. The red Eagles' Nests Trail runs along the valley, and after the walk it is worth trying trout from the local farm.