Żary County: Park Art, Geopark and Cultural Heritage

Muskau Park and the Łuk Mużakowa Geopark

Muskau Park is a landscape park dating from the first half of the 19th century and is considered an outstanding example of European garden art from that period. It extends across Łęknica in Poland and Bad Muskau in Germany. The two parts of the park are connected by the Double Bridge and the English Bridge. The park thus offers a cross-border view of a designed landscape, while the two sides remain distinct places.

The Łuk Mużakowa Geopark offers a different perspective: since 2011, it has been part of European geopark networks supported by UNESCO. The Polish section is protected by law as a landscape park. In Łęknica, the UNESCO Geopark Cultural and Educational Centre is housed in a historic industrial building and serves as an information point.

The marked “Dawna Kopalnia Babina” walking and cycling route is four kilometres long and runs in the area around Łęknica and Nowe Czaple. It is part of the geopark. As a specific route option, it can be distinguished from the broader landscape and park themes: here, the focus is on a marked trail with a specified length.

Woodland, waters and birdwatching

Forests cover more than half of Żary County, which is home to four nature reserves. A total of 146 bird species have been recorded in the Łuk Mużakowa Landscape Park, including the Eurasian bittern, osprey and white-tailed eagle. The municipality of Tuplice also offers its own nature experience: its forests, waters and fish ponds provide opportunities to observe several rare bird species, including the black stork, white-tailed eagle and osprey.

One striking landscape feature can be found in the Nad Młyńską Strugą Nature Reserve: there, the river water has a red and orange hue. Together with the forests, waters and recorded bird species, this creates a nature theme that is clearly distinct from the garden art of Muskau Park.

Archaeological traces and historic sites

Traces of the Lusatian culture’s heritage can be found in Żary County. Near Wicina lies an important archaeological site containing a former prehistoric fortified settlement of this culture, dating from the Hallstatt period. It complements the later architectural landmarks with a much older perspective on the region’s history.

In Brody, the palace complex is one of the few surviving Baroque sites in the Lubusz Voivodeship. The palace park was once laid out in the English and French styles; rare trees and shrubs can be found there beside a lake. In Tuplice, a historic railway line dating from 1858 and a railway station dating from 1871 recall the town’s railway history. These dates refer to these historic landmarks, not to current railway operations.

The marked Dolina Szyszyny nature and educational trail also brings together different themes. It runs through woodland to an old mill on the Szyszyna. Along the trail, visitors can observe moisture-loving vegetation and amphibians; there is also an early medieval hillfort dating from the 8th century. Nature and archaeological heritage thus sit side by side along this route.

Routes and travel-planning themes

Żary County has tourist trails for walking and cycling. A 76.5-kilometre green walking and cycling route between Żary and Gubin passes through the municipality of Brody. Its stated length, use and course make it a different kind of reference point from the four-kilometre “Dawna Kopalnia Babina” route.

When looking for accommodation, you can first decide which of these aspects of Żary County you want to shape your trip: park art and the geopark, nature watching, archaeological traces or historic architecture. The places and routes mentioned offer specific starting points without presupposing any particular type of accommodation.

Discover more destinations

Explore more of Żary County: Tuplice, Brody, Zasieki.

Discover more destinations: Żagań (Sagan), Nowa Sól, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Wschowa County, Zielona Góra County.

Go to the regional travel overview: Lubusz.