WEH Kanton

WEH Kanton © 2008
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:30:53 +0800
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Warmia i Mazury

A lake in Masuria region

Sailing in Masuria region

Mazury (Masuria) is an historical and ethnographic region in northern Poland, encompassing the Masurian Lake District, a vast land subdivided into several smaller lake districts like the one around Suwalki and Augustów. The area is often referred to as "a land of a thousand lakes", which hardly does it justice as the actual number of lakes is about four thousand. The largest are Śniardwy (113.8 sq km) and Mamry (104.5 sq km); the deepest is Hańcza (108.5 m) in the Suwałki Lake District, and the longest is Jeziorak (27 km) in the Ilawa Lake District. Most are linked by rivers and canals, of which the main tourist attractions are the Augustów and Elbląg canals. Another very popular waterway excursion along the Great Masurian Lakes covers a distance of 88 km. The name "Masuria" means pretty much the same as the Land of the Great Masurian Lakes, which covers some 1,700 sq km, of which over 15% is water (this is one-fourth of all the lake water in Poland), and includes Lakes Śniardwy and Mamry. North-east of the Great Masurian Lakes lies the Suwałki region, stretching to the border with Lithuania and Belarus. This corner of Poland is outstanding for its scenic postglacial landscape, bizarre geology, climatic features, vegetation, wildlife, history of human settlement and ethnic structure.

Masuria and the Suwalki region are a paradise for yachting enthusiasts, canoeists, hikers and walkers, and everyone who loves tranquilllity. Extensive woods, including the Pisz Forest and the Augustów Forest, provide a network of ramblers' trails ideal for hiking, biking and horse-riding. More attraction come with the numerous Gothic castles and churches built by the Teutonic Knights who once governed this land.

The Masurian landscape is extremely diversified, with lofty, steep-sided hills, rocky valleys, troughs and large lake-filled synclines carved by the Scandinavian glacier which retreated and returned here several times. The effect of this "indecisiveness" are the frontal-moraine deposits in the form of ridges parallel to the ice front. Long, narrow trough lakes formed between the ridges. When it was retreating more steadily, the glacier exposed plains and ground moraine which became strewn with peat bogs, marshes and large, shallow lakes with numerous peninsulas, islets and coves.

	• Bitwa pod Grunwaldem (15 czerwca 1410) (3294)
	On July 15, 1410, a decisive battle, one of the biggest in the Middle Ages, took place near the village of Grunwald (also known as Tannenberg).
	• Lidzbark Warmiński (2910)
	A small town fourty-odd km north of Olsztyn was a capital of the Warmian bishops for over four centuries and reputedly the richest and most cultured town in the region.
	• Puszcza Augstowska (2229)
	The Puszcza Augustowska (Augustów Forest), one of the most extensive forests in Poland, stretches to the north-east of the Masurian lakes . It covers 114,000,000 ha, that is almost the whole Augustów Plain in the southern part of the Suwałki and Augustów Lake District, flat but dotted with dunes. The outwash sands are dominated by pine and spruce, with many trees over 120 years old.
	• Puszcza Piska (2439)
	Covering 86,000 hectares, Puszcza Piska (the Pisz Forest) is the biggest forest in Masuria and one of the biggest in Poland. Pine woods on outwash sands, forest lakes dotted with islands, charming spots in river bends, all contribute to the haunting beauty of Masuria. There are also larger tourist centres here, offering excellent facilities for both hikers and boaters. The forest is ideal for walking, biking and kayaking trips on which you can explore the picturesque Krutynia River or Lakes Śniardwy, Nidzkie, and Bełdany.
	• Suwałki (2592)
	Few places look as dramatic as the dazzlingly beautiful as the north-eastern fringes of Poland. It's a land generously bestowed by Nature with undulating plains dominated by lofty hills, dozens of bizarrely shaped lakes, rivers, streams and brooks, deep ravines, and thousand of erratic boulders.