Discover Strehlen: Culture, History and Views

Religious Buildings, Town History and Exhibitions

The Rotunda of St. Gotthard in Strzelin dates from the 12th century and is one of the oldest religious buildings in Silesia. The Chapel of St. George’s Hospital is a Gothic chapel dating from 1351; it was built within the former municipal hospital complex. Since 1993, the chapel has housed the Galeria Skalna, managed by the Strzeliński Ośrodek Kultury. This brings a historic architectural form and continuing cultural use together in one place.

The former town fortifications can also be traced through a surviving structure: the Powder Tower is the only tower of the former fortifications to have survived to this day. It was built in the 15th century on a rectangular plan and is about 15 metres high. The town hall tower offers a striking contrast in scale: it is more than 70 metres high. It houses a mineral exhibition and a permanent exhibition of photographs of pre-war Strzelin. The town therefore offers both a single surviving remnant of its fortifications and a tower with two different exhibition themes.

Views and Routes in the Surrounding Area

The old water tower on the slope of Góra Szańcowa is currently used as an observation tower. From there, the view extends across the Strzelińskie Hills, the Ślęża Massif and part of the Silesian Lowlands. The panorama thus takes in several landscapes: from the hills, across the prominent massif and out to the plains.

A red hiking trail leads from Strzelin to Gromnik, providing a specific destination for planning a hike. In the wider region, the Strzelińskie Hills associated with Strzelin can be explored via a dense, well-marked network of cycling and hiking trails. These offer different scales for active pursuits: a named route to Gromnik and a network of trails in the hills. The tourist information centre in Strzelin provides numerous information brochures about the municipality and its surroundings—useful if you are planning to explore beyond the town as well.

Water and Industrial Landscapes

Aquapark Granit has a 25.00 × 12.50-metre swimming pool, as well as a leisure pool with numerous water massage stations. The two pools therefore serve different purposes: alongside the swimming pool, there is a leisure area with massage facilities. The Strzelin granite quarry on Kamienna Street offers a very different attraction. Granite is actively quarried there; the quarry is described as the deepest open-pit mine in Europe and the second deepest in the world. The topics covered therefore range from water-based recreation to a striking industrial landscape.

Town Games and a Planned History Trail

Town game themes include a game that runs from Strzelin’s market square through a former town gate, and a game about a Nobel Prize laureate associated with Strzelin. Eight brass figures of historical figures are planned for a proposed Historical Trail; they are to be placed on granite stones connected to the town’s history. Signs with QR codes are intended to guide residents of the border region to tourist and educational descriptions and professional audio recordings about the trail’s objects. The plan thus combines figures in the townscape with digital explanations; the elements described are planned projects.

Getting There by Train or Car

Strzelin is connected to Wrocław by rail and the regional road 395. The journey from Wrocław to Strzelin takes about 40 minutes by train or car. When planning your trip, you can therefore compare two modes of transport with roughly the same travel time. Check the timetable for a specific train journey; the stated duration is a guide, not a minute-by-minute travel plan.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Gębczyce, Strzelin, Michałowice, Ząbkowice Śląskie (Frankenstein), Wałbrzyski, Trzebnicki, Polkwitz and Legnicki.

Back to the main travel overview: Lower Silesia.