Zielona Reservoir in Kalety

In Zielona, a forest district of Kalety about 5 km from the town centre, the Mała Panew river spreads into two linked reservoirs. The older one has medieval roots: it formed where local smiths dug ore out of the riverbed. Today it means bathing beaches, nature trails and a wooden windmill on an island, and on the shore stands a hunting palace where Kaiser Wilhelm II once hunted.

History: from iron ore to bathing beach

The pond came into being in the mid-13th or the 14th century. The strong current of the Mała Panew exposed a deposit of bog iron ore in Zielona, which local smiths began to dig and smelt into iron – and the pit soon filled with water. Over the centuries it was known, among other names, as Kuźniczy Rybnik (the forge fishpond). It stored water for iron-making, later served as a fishpond, and after the Second World War as a water reserve for the pulp and paper works in Kalety. On a map from 1827 it covered 9.7 ha.

In the early 1960s the completely overgrown pond was cleared and dredged, and a decade later, in the early 1970s, a dam was built across the Mała Panew upstream, creating a second, larger reservoir. Sources differ on their size: 2018 measurements give about 10.7 ha for the Lower Pond and 24.2 ha for Zielona Pond, while other studies quote 57 or 60 ha in total. Both are shallow – on average 1.5–2 m deep.

What to see

• a wooden windmill on a flat island in the Lower Pond, a few dozen metres from the shore – the reservoir's best-known view,
• the Zielona Pętla (Green Loop) nature trail – about 9 km around the water, used by cyclists and Nordic walkers in summer and by cross-country skiers in winter – and the "Do bobrów" (To the Beavers) trail,
• bathing beaches on the southern shore of the Lower Pond and the northern shore of Zielona Pond, water-sports hire, a campsite and holiday centres,
• belts of rushes, reeds and floating-leaved plants – the reservoirs are once again becoming heavily overgrown, which is easy to see from the bank.

Curiosity: the Kaiser's pheasant shoot

By the pond stands a hunting palace built in 1861 by Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, owner of the pulp and paper factory in Kalety. The medieval pond was incorporated into the palace park, and the fenced game reserve covered around 6,000 ha – in 1914 it held about 450 red deer. From 18 to 20 November 1900 Kaiser Wilhelm II came here to shoot pheasants. After the war the palace housed a forestry transport depot with workshops, which left the building badly damaged. Today it is fenced off awaiting restoration and can only be seen from outside.

Tripto tip

An hour is enough for a walk round the Lower Pond and its windmill; cycling the whole Green Loop takes 1–2 hours. The windmill photographs best from the bank, through the reeds, when the sun is low. The beaches, boat hire and campsite are seasonal, mainly open in summer; out of season the water is quiet. Zielona lies about 5 km through the forest from central Kalety, so a car or bike is the easiest way to get here.