Przegorzaly Castle

Approximately 6.5 km to the west of the Old City, on a rocky outcrop at the edge of the forest overlooking the Wisla River, is located Przegorzaly Castle - one of Las Wolski's highlights, and an easy way to hiking destination with great rewards. While today, the sunset views from the amazing terraces of the restaurant/coffee represent a motion-picture-perfect romantic retreat, this site has a sinister history. Despite resembling a former royal residence, this picturesque real estate in fact only dates back to the late 1920s, when local architect and restorer Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz built the building today known as the "Bastion" as his family residence. Seized by the Nazis at the beginning of the war, the estate was soon transformed into a grand residential castle of Otto Wachter - Nazis of the " Governor of the district of Krakow.' [It was Wachter, who established the Krakow Ghetto , and organized the mass murder of Polish Jews via Galicia, he has also overseen the execution of more than 1000 ethnic Poles (mostly the fighters of the resistance) in a common grave, near the castle known under the name of " Glinik.'] The estate of the imposing main peak of the mountain villa - then called the Castle of Wartenberg (Castle Observatory"), and today known as Przegorzaly Castle was built in 1942-43 before the work was stopped at Wachter reallocation in Lviv, the original plans for a funicular railway from the base of the mountain to the castle were never completed.

After the liberation of Krakow in 1945, the Bohusz family has tried in vain to recover the property and it became the headquarters of the Ministry of Forestry. Today Przegorzaly Castle houses Jagiellonian University's Institute of European Studies, and also the Centre for the Study of the Holocaust. For visitors, however, the main attractions are the cafe-restaurant 'U Ziyada, "in which the multi-level terraces offer incredible views of the Wisla River and the valley below on clear days, the peaks of the Tatras, can be seen in the distance. Without doubt one of the most romantic, picturesque, and intimate places in Krakow, dinner, or even just a coffee at the Przegorzaly is the perfect end to a trip to Las Wolski, the devil, the point of view of easily justify take a taxi directly from your hotel (20-35zl for about 20min ride). Bus 109 provides the students directly here from the Cracovia Stadion' stop on the days of the week during the school year, or take the bus 134 of 'Cracovia Stadion" to the Zoo and enjoy a picturesque 15 min stroll on the yellow trail to the castle.