Discover Wąwolnica: Marian art, museum and routes

Wąwolnica brings together several eras and two ways to explore: in the town, you’ll encounter Marian art, museum collections and traces of a medieval castle; a red hiking trail and a red cycling route also pass through here. When planning, you can decide whether you’d rather focus on cultural history or experience Wąwolnica as part of a longer route.

Marian shrine and castle remains

The chapel of the Marian shrine in Wąwolnica is considered the town’s oldest architectural monument and stands beside the parish church of St Adalbert. The main surviving feature of the original building is a Renaissance marble portal from the 17th century. Low, small fragments of the medieval castle walls remain on the church hill, including the foundation of a cylindrical tower in the southern castle wall. The site thus spans everything from a surviving Renaissance detail to fragments of medieval fortifications.

Museum and the Kębelska Madonna

The Wąwolnica Museum’s exhibition is housed on the lower floor of the castle church, built in the 14th century. The upper floor, which has been rebuilt several times, is the Chapel of Matki Bożej Kębelskiej. The museum was founded in 1995 on the initiative of the board of the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Wąwolnicy and the parish priest at the time, ks. infułat Jan Pęzioł.

The Kębelska Madonna is part of the history of the Marian shrine. Made of linden wood, the figure dates from around 1440, is 85 cm tall and 27 cm wide at its broadest point. It was transferred to the church in Wąwolnica. Its workshop is unknown; Silesia or Pomerania are considered possible places of origin.

The museum holds several sculptural works and drawings by the brothers Józef and Stanisław Gosławski. The collection also includes several drawings donated by the family, which Józef Gosławski made before restoration work on the house Pod Świętym Mikołajem in Kazimierz Dolny.

The collection includes 18th-century liturgical vestments and vessels, well-preserved leather-bound books from the 17th century, and a 16th-century sculpture of Christ. A model of the town as it appeared in the 15th century was made in 1996, based on rediscovered 15th-century court books. Historical objects and a spatial depiction of the town based on the court books thus offer different ways of exploring the past.

Hiking and cycling routes through Wąwolnica

The 60 km red-marked Western Upland hiking trail runs from Kazimierz Dolny via Rąblów, Wąwolnica, Nałęczów, Wojciechów, Motycz and Dąbrowica to Lublin. The red-marked cycling route between Lublin and Kazimierz Dolny is also 62 km long and runs via Rąblów, Kębło, Wąwolnica, Nałęczów, Wojciechów, Miłocin and Dąbrowica. Both routes pass through Wąwolnica, but differ in how you travel and the places they pass through. When choosing, consider not only their similar overall lengths but also whether you’re planning a hike or a bike ride and which sequence of places interests you. Before setting out, check local trail conditions and current waymarking.

Discover more destinations

Lysa Gora, Bochotnica, Parchatka, Janowiec, Puławy, Kurów, Rablów, Nałęczów

For the broader travel overview: Puławski.