Bialystok Off The Beaten Path

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Bialowieza forest is one of the most significant forests in Europe, remind of medieval times, when such look of forests were typical. The site was fully included to UNESCO World heritage list in 1992.

Forest is famous due to its European bisons and old massive oak trees. At Russian tsar's rule and Worlds War I bisons were hunted till no one left. 1929 was decided to start breeding them again in natural surroundings.

The museum in Bialowieza represents the nature of forest, provides panorama of surroundings. The place is about 60 kilometres from Bialystok, could be reachable by bus.

Imagine a typical Eastern Polish village - wooden hamlets, meadows, woods. Bohoniki has all this, but lacks the Christian crosses of either Catholics or Orthodoxes that are so familiar in this region elsewhere. Little wonder - Bohoniki is one of the twi remaining Tatar villages and taking pride in its wooden mosque instead. The Tatars live in this area for more than 300 years, the privilege of settlement a reward by the Polish crown. Aside from Bohoniki, there is yet another Tatar village, Kruszczyniany, about 25 miles away

Kruszyniany - the oldest and biggest of 4 mosques in Poland

Remember to meet one of last Kruszyniany muslims, Mr. Ali Poplawski, who can tell you many stories about life of the Followers of the Prophet in Poland.

Good park with lots of trees and statues

a very good saturday morning walk in the snow

just near the hotel golebiewski

Quite far from Bialystok and definitely 'off the beaten path' -
Peasants going to the field on autumn morning,
Cieciory on the Pisa River