Tatar Yurt (Tatarska Jurta) in Kruszyniany

Kruszyniany is a village that Poland's Tatars received from King Jan III Sobieski, and the Tatarska Jurta is the best-known address for tasting their cuisine. The agritourism farm with a restaurant is run by Dżenneta Bogdanowicz and her husband Mirosław, not far from the green wooden mosque and the mizar (Muslim cemetery). On the table you will find pierekaczewnik, dumplings and kibiny – dishes you will rarely see in ordinary restaurants.

A village granted by the king

By a document of 12 March 1679, Jan III Sobieski granted Kruszyniany and neighbouring villages to the Tatars. The settlers, Muslims known as Lipka Tatars, had fought for the Commonwealth against the Turks. One of them was Colonel Samuel Murza Krzeczowski, who saved the king's life at the Battle of Parkany; Sobieski stopped at his home on the way to the parliament in Grodno. Today a small Tatar minority still lives here, and the wooden mosque from the late 18th century is one of the two oldest in Poland.

What to eat

Tatar cooking blends flavours brought by the settlers with everyday Podlasie fare. A publication of the National Research Institute of Animal Production lists the Jurta's specialities as pierekaczewnik (a multi-layered filled pastry), Tatar kołduny (dumplings), bełysz, azu, kibiny, kryszonka, jeczpoczmak, Tatar potato cake, katłama, manty and listkowiec pastry. Tatars do not eat pork, so cold cuts are made from poultry or game.

Fire and rebuilding

In 2018 the restaurant burned down. National Geographic Traveler describes how the neighbours – just as after the vandalising of the mosque and mizar in 2014 – immediately came to help, regardless of religion. That captures the spirit of Kruszyniany, where Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims have lived side by side for centuries.

Tripto tips

• Combine lunch with a visit to the mosque and the mizar – the cemetery with its distinctive gravestones right behind the mosque.
• Another Tatar mosque stands in Bohoniki, and on the way you pass the former Tatar estates of Nietupa and Talkowszczyzna.
• We could not confirm opening hours or payment options on an official website (October 2026) – call ahead and book a table, especially in season.
• Kruszyniany lies in Krynki municipality, on the edge of the Knyszyn Forest, close to the Belarusian border.