Wągrowiec

Poland

Wągrowiec (pronounced Vongrovyets) is a city in Greater Poland.

A small town (26 thousand inhabitants) in north-east Greater Poland, appr. 60 km NE of Poznań at the banks of Wełna river and Durowskie Lake. The history of the city (and its surroundings) is inseparably connected with the past of the Cistercian Order in Poland.

Wągrowiec has several important high-class monuments :

  • a late gothic parish church from XVIth cent, built upon older, romanesque fundaments with three-aisle, hall interior. The most important person linked with this church is priest Jakub Wujek (a later rector of the Jesuit College in Poznań) – the person, who made the first Bible translation in polish. One can find Wujek’s monument in from of the church – it’s a reconstruction, the original one was destroyed by Nazi Germans during WWII.
  • the post-Cistercian church and monastery, existing in its present form since XVIIth cent, earlier monastery buildings have burnt in 1744. In the interiors : a precious altar with a baroque relief, nearby a high-school building, where in 1899 Stanislaw Przybyszewski (A famous polish poet of that epoque) took his final exams.
  • A Regional Museum – in the so-called abbot-house, rebuilt after a fire in 1987, with historical and ethnografical collection of Pałuki (a region on the borderland of Greater Poland and Kujawy), with a usual, but unique collection of match-etiquettes, coins and orders.
  • a bifurcation – that means simply a river-crossing, of two small river flowing throughout Wągrowiec : Wełna i Nielba. The crossing is man-made,. The fisrt canal was built by Cistercian monks in the Middle Ages to improve the city defensive system. Later on – in 1880 – during meliorating works, a new cala leading southwards was dug forming a crossing that way. An interesting thing is, that – despite of the artificial character of the crossing - only appr. 15% of waters of the two rivers mix, the rest flow in their own river-beds.
  • The Lakinski Piramide - a grave of captain of horse from the Napoleon Army, Franciszek Lakinski in the shape of a piramide

  • Bar "Widzińscy", 11, Skocka str., Phone : +48 67 262 78 97
  • Bar "Arka", 1, Żeromskiego str., Phone : +48 67 262 64 45
  • Bar "Pod Korfantym", 4, Lesna str., Phone : +48 67 262 17 20
  • Bar "Siódemka", 7, Pocztowa str., Phone : +48 67 262 03 70
  • Bar "Bachus", 50, Janowiecka str, Phone : +48 67 262 07 36
  • Bar "Pod Meduzą", 6, Lipowa str., Phone : +48 67 262 46 66
  • Bar "Rybka", 2, Dworcowy sq., Phone : +48 67 262 73 19

  • Restaurant in Hotel Pietrak, Phone : +48 67 262 86 07,
  • Dom Bankietowy "Neptun", 13, Kościuszki str., Phone : +48 501 700 935
  • Pizzeria "Micolo", 23, Rynek sq., Phone : +48 67 262 09 20
  • Restauracja Jamajka, 129, Kcyńska str., Phone : +48 67 268 58 60,

  • Restaurant Marcel, Kobylec 136, Phone : +48 67 262 11 07,
  • The Cantine of Holiday Centre „Adrian" in Skoki at the Budziszewskie Lake, Phone : +48 67 261 83 66
  • The Cantine of Holiday Centre "Expans", at the Budziszewskie Lake (nearby Rościnno), Phone : +48 61 848 93 07 or +48 61 840 32 61
  • The Cantine of Holiday Centre, 7, Wczasowa str., 62-085 Skoki, Phone : +48 67 812 48 81
  • Restaurant "Dwór Grylewo", Grylewo 25, Phone : +48 67 261 28 87

  • Cafe "Justynka", 15, Brzozowa str., Phone : +48 67 262 30 38, opne Mon-Fri 9:00 - 21:00, Sat-Sun 10:00 - 22:00.
  • Cafe in the Sport and Recreation Centre, 59, Kościuszki str., Phone : +48 67 262 24 81 or +48 67 262 53 17

  • Pub "El Toro", 59, Reja str., Phone : +48 67 262 41 35
  • Angel's Pub, 2, Srednia str., Phone : +48 509 407 707 or +48 67 262 37 50 – extra biliard and live music with a DJ
  • Pub "Astra", 9, Jeżyka str., Phone : +48 67 262 67 33
  • Street Club, 23, Opacka str., Phone : +48 67 262 56 24 – a combination of a pub and a disco with a chimney hall.

For more information – ask in the City Office, 15a, Kosciuszki Str (close to the Train and Bus station), phone : +48 67 262 15 22 or visit the official Wągrowec web-site (in English) :

It’s a good idea to spend one night in Wągrowiec and visit as well at least some of the surroundings :

  • Popowo Kościelne – a wooden church from 1629, rebuilt one century later, nearby : a lime-tree with a circumference of 450 cms.
  • Tarnowo Pałuckie – the oldest of the wooden churches in Poland (XIVth cent) and as well one of the most precious. In the interiors there are marvellous polychromies from the mid-XVIIth cent, covering all the walls; on the northern wall scene from the life of St. Margaret, on the southern one : of St. Nicolas (the patron of the church); in the presbytery : scenes from the New Testament.
  • Budziejewko - an erratic block of St. Adalbert, where the saint was preaching before his lethal mission to the Prussians; circumference : 20,5m. It's the oldest protected by law eraatic block in Poland (since 1840)
  • Łekno - originally the oldest city of the Paluki region, the first place of Cistercians in Poland, with preserved parts of the old city planning; in its western part - old gothic church from XVIth cent, three-aisled.
  • Prusce - a classicistic palace from 1788, projected by the architect from Warsaw Jan Christian Kamsetzer, being for several decades a patern for many other residences in Greater Poland. Nearby - the English Park with oak trees with the circumference up to 7 metres. On the way between Prusce and Wagrowiec a small building used to collect toll.
  • The Debina natural reserve - old oak-tree forest with one of unique places in westren Poland, where grey heron nests.

Wagrowiec can be as well the starting point for excursions to the northern parts of the Piast Trail.