Suwalki Things to Do

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When you are in Suwalszczyzna don't miss the region around Punsk, which is sometimes called the capital of the Polish Lithuanians, as large part of its population of just over 1000 is Lithuanian. One of the most interesting things worth seeing in the area is the 19th century railway station at Trakiszki. It's the last station in Poland before the Lithuanian border and part of the railway track Warsaw - Kaunas, constructed in the years 1896 -1898. The now listed old wooden building itself, no longer used as a station, was built in the Russian style with a carved porch and decorative doors and windows. Two years ago it was still lived in, which made it even more charming, with the laced curtains and geraniums in the windows.
The lodgers must have moved out though and now the building looks not only deserted but also neglected, with the window paint peeling and the doors locked. I do hope they find a use for it and do not let it fall apart.

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We came upon this fair purely by chance, having stopped in Suwalki on our way from Warsaw with the intention of having ice-creams as the day was hot. It was a Saturday afternoon so we were surprised to see quite a number of people strolling in the square of this normally rather sleepy town. Then we heard the music and saw the stage and the stalls with all kinds of handicrafts from colourful straw 'spiders', through wooden toys, pottery, interesting wicker baskets, Easter 'palms', embroidered tablecloths, tapestries and what not. The stallholders seemed to have come from many regions of Poland and even Lithuania, which made the fair even more interesting. You could get all kinds of wonderful home-baked bread or cheese, croissants, doughnuts and the like. You could see demonstrations of weaving or try your hand at pottery making. I wish we hadn't been so tired after the long drive so as to enjoy it even more.
I am not sure if this is an yearly event but if you are in the area around the first weekend in August ask at the tourist information and you may be lucky to be able to attend the fair too.
For more pictures of the fair, see the travelogue.

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The town of Sejny is situated 30 km east of Suwalki not far from the Lithuanian border. Founded in 1522 in a forested area, it became a municipality in 1593. In 1602 it was left in a will to the Order of Black Friars from Vilnius, who founded the first brick church there, which was later extended to form a whole complex of the Church and Monastery of the Visitation. At present in the baroque style, the church is worth visiting for its splendid interior with eleven 18th century baroque and rococo altars, the precious Gothic Madonna dating back to around 1257 brought here from Krolewiec by Jerzy Grodzinski, some interesting 17th and 18th century paintings and many more.
The figure of the Madonna is said to have saved the monastery and the town in 1654 during an invasion of the Muscovites. The monks had tried to carry the figure away in a cart and hide it, but the chassis of the cart broke. Yet the legend has it that, when the Muscovites arrived, they saw an enormous white army of angels in front of the monastery and fled in fear.
Some other interesting buildings in Sejny include the White Synagogue, St. Agatha's Chapel, the former Beit Midrasz or Jewish study house, the neo-Gothic evangelical church and the classicist Town Hall. We re-visited Sejny this year (2008) and decided the place deserves a page of its own.

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Smolniki is a village north of Suwalki situated in an area abounding in lakes. For a nice view of the vicinity visit the place called 'U Pana Tadeusza' on a hill by the main road. The entrance fee is just 1 zl and from the specially built platform you can see the whole valley with the lakes at your feet. Afterwards, you can cross the road and take a walk in the forest - the path will take you to a lake with a bathing place and tables where you can have a picnic. Or, if you prefer, you can visit the bar by the road to have some local food at the tables on the edge of the forest. We need to explore this place more as we know it is very popular with holidaymakers.

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Punsk, in Lithuanian Punskas, a small town north west of Suwalki, is the capital of the Polish Lithuanians. Visit the Lithuanian Cultural Centre (Dom Kultury Litewskiej) and find out if there is anything going on - the town has a few folk ensembles, a Lithuanian magazine and two folk museums. It would be interesting to visit it on midsummer night to see their bonfire on Lake Punia, or on 15th August - a religious holiday when the Lithuanians come to church in beautifully decorated britzkas ('taradejkas') to have their crops blessed and take part in the procession, some in their folk costumes. As we were there soon after the celebrations, we could still see the decorations in and outside the church (see picture 2).
The church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, dates back to 1887, the timber churches that stood there before it (from 1597) were destroyed by fires. In front of the church you can see two interesting shrines.
In the streets of Punsk there are still many old timber houses, well-worth a look. The Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Punsk (the Jews constituted the majority of the town's population before the war) is so overgrown that getting to the few remaining matzevas is really hard.

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Next to the Jewish Cemetery is the Orthodox Cemetery with the nineteenth century timber Orthodox church. The church is closed though and its windows boarded over but you can see some old graves of tzarist officials nearby, some with wrought-iron crosses.
Our guidebook speaks of a molenna of the Old Believers in Suwalki too and even shows a picture of it. But, if it's still there, it's not where the guidebook says, there is only a new Catholic church where Kowienska and Wilenska streets meet and the local people have never heard of a molenna there. It looks very nice in the picture though so we'll continue to look for it next time we are in the area. Perhaps some of the other VT-ers have seen it and can give us directions how to get there? To see another molenna of the Old Believers, you can visit Wodzilki, a village of the Old Believers north of Suwalki.
If you walk on along Zarzecze St the next cemetery is the evangelical one and finally, the largest is for the Catholics.

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When you have seen St Alexander's Church, don't leave the Old Market Square but walk across the park to its south side to see some of the most interesting buildings in Suwalki. On the way you can visit the Tourist Information in the park, the white building in the middle where you can get free access to the Internet and ask the nice and well-informed girl at the desk any questions about the area.
The church you will be passing is dedicated to the Heart of Jesus and was first built as an Orthodox church designed by the famous architect Henryk Marconi in the years 1840-45. From 1915 a Catholic church, it used to be attended by students from the gymnasium opposite.
The building in picture 3 is the former boys' gymnasium dating back to 1843-45 and designed by Antonio Corazzi. It still houses a school but not just for boys.
Next to it you can see the former guardhouse (pic.4), probably designed by A. Corazzi too, and, further on, the 19th century Town Hall, with the main entrance in Kosciuszki Street.
Walking along it you will see more interesting 19th century buildings, many recently restored after years of neglect during the Communist era.

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At the turn of the 19th/20th centuries the population of Suwalki was multicultural - it consisted of Poles, Jews, Lithuanians, Germans, Russians, Belorussians, Gypsies and Tartars.
Reflecting this ethnic diversity are the old cemeteries in Zarzecze Street. Starting from the south, there is the Muslim Cemetery for the Tartars, a small corner now completely overgrown, where we couldn't find any remains of the graves. Next to it is the Jewish Cemetery. Deliberately completely destroyed by the Nazis in the years 1940-45, it has only a very few matzevas (Jewish tombs) left while all the remaining broken ones have been put together to form a wall commemorating the Jewish community of Suwalki. Some are simple ones, some beautifully engraved, all silent witnesses of humans' strange unaccountable hatred of other humans.