Discover Gierczyce: Military Cemetery and Panorama
Accommodation in Gierczyce
The main attraction in Gierczyce is clearly located: Military Cemetery No. 336 on Czyżyczka Hill. Here, a historic place of remembrance meets a south-facing panorama. The history of the Matki Bożej Bolesnej parish adds a distinct ecclesiastical perspective to this landscape and historical landmark. When choosing a place to stay, you can weigh up two different aspects of the area: the landscape and war cemetery history on the hill, and the history of the chapel and church.
File:Cmentarz wojenny nr 336 - Gierczyce-Czyżyczka 4.jpg
Photo: Jerzy Opioła via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Military Cemetery No. 336 on Czyżyczka
Military Cemetery No. 336 is located at the summit of the 364-metre-high Czyżyczka Hill in Gierczyce. From there, the panorama stretches south across the Pogórza Wielickie and Wiśnickie foothills to the Beskids rising beyond them. The names of the two foothill regions and the compass direction give the viewpoint a specific orientation: the view extends across these landscapes to the Beskids. Alongside the cemetery’s history, a clearly identified landscape landmark is therefore also at the centre of attention.
Soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies who fell during the Limanowa–Łapanów Operation in 1914 are buried in the cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1915–1916 to a design by Franz Stark. The military cemetery in Gierczyce, Bochnia Municipality, is listed in the register under number A-100/M, dated 28 June 2007. The years therefore mark different stages: 1914, when the soldiers fell during the operation; 1915–1916, when the cemetery was established; and 2007, when it was entered in the register.
Parish and Chapel History
The Matki Bożej Bolesnej parish is located at Gierczyce 10, 32-744 Gierczyce. Its temporary chapel was created by converting a manor house dating from around 1880; Czesław Gajek bought the house in 1972. The church interior contains 19th-century paintings transferred from the chapel previously in use. These local details point to different aspects of the church’s history: an older manor house that was converted into a temporary chapel, and paintings brought into the church interior from a chapel previously in use. The approximate date of the house and the exact year of purchase should be understood as different kinds of date information.
Directions and the Regional Fruit Trail
For directions to the cemetery, a signposted route described in 2017 indicates a turn between the buildings onto a path towards the water reservoir. The cemetery is about 200 metres from the Gierczyce–Nieprześnia road. Use these details for orientation, and check before your visit whether the signposting is helpful on site.
Another regional connection is the Małopolski Szlak Owocowy, the Lesser Poland Fruit Trail. A regional description from 2012 lists Gierczyce as one of seven sołectwa (village administrative units) in Bochnia Municipality connected with the route. If you wish to follow the trail’s signposting today, check whether it is still in place.
Discover more destinations: Jodłówka, Lipnica Murowana, Wolica, Rajbrot, Kamionna K Bochni, Zawada, Kamionna, Rzezawa
For the wider travel overview: Bochnia.
