About the Region

Hotel Anders is situated in a lovely village Stare Jabłonki, in the western part of Masuria, in the area of Taborska Pine Reserve. Western

Masuria is the most western part of the region, territorially separated from the rest of Masuria – with Warmia.

A stay in Western Masuria may well be enriched with oneday trips to other fascinating sites in Warmia, in Land of Great Masurian Lakes, in Masovia, Pomesania, Zulawy or Pomerania (within 150 km).

The most important attractions of the region are:

Ostróda Elbląg Canal
Gothic Castles Route
Churches
Swięta Lipka
Marian Shrine in Gietrzwałd
fortifications
Wolf's Lair in Gierłoż
Quarters in Mamerki
Fortress Boyen
Vintage technology
Grunwald Battlefields
Masurian Landscape Park
Numerous museums
Events

Ostróda-Elbląg Canal – (10 km from the Hotel) is one of the most technically fascinating and internationally unique canal water route. It consists of three main segments 129,8 km long in total and many side branches. They comprise lakes and navigable parts of rivers flowing into the lake Drużno and the Vistula Lagoon. The canal was designed by a Dutch engineer George Jakob Steenke and built within the period of 18481872. The biggest technical problem was to surmount 99 metre water level difference between Drużno near Elbląg and a lake Piniewo on a segment 11 km long. Steenke worked out an exceptionally original concept which still has been functioning intact, astonishing with its 19^th century craft and engineering. This genius solution was about building, on the way of this marvelous hydrographic craft, two sluices (Miłomłyn and Zielona) as well as five ramps (Buczyniec, Kąty, Oleśnica, Jelenie, Całuny). The ramps eliminate the water level difference by 99 m. Ships go through the ramps on special carts. In the 19^th century the Canal was mainly of an economic value. It enabled to float timber and crop from the affluent area of Western Masuria to Elbląg and further to harbours around the Vistula Lagoon.

Today, the route of OstódaElbląg Canal may have a chance to support an economic boom of this area. However, this time it’s about development of the tourist infrustructure along the whole water track, which is believed to result in a permanent development of the adjoining villages and districts. The first step was taken by Ostróda, situated by the lake Drwęckie which is the southern starting point of the cruise into the Canal. Thanks to the project concerning the concept of developing the wharf, a new promenade is in the making. There has already been built a sailingwalking pier and a harbour of OstródaElbląg Navigation. What’s more, there are projects for a tavern with a water equipment rental, a marina with a jachts harbour and an open air theatre. All of those investments are aimed at tourists visiting the region to provide attractive and comfortable conditions for recreation. Other districts Miłomłyn, Małdyty, Pasłęk, Rychliki and Iława share similar plans. The majority of these towns decided to create the Association of OstódaElbląg Canal Districts. The basic difficulty the authorities have to overcome is finances. It must be mentioned here that some segments of the Canal are excluded from using due to investments. Moreover, the technical condition of some ramps and ships is not at a satisfactory level, which may influence the standards of service.

Gothic Castles Route, which includes many grand castles from various periods, located in such towns as Malbork, Olsztyn, Kętrzyn, Ryn, Nidzica, Reszel, Ostróda, Sztum, Kwidzyn, Bytów, Lidzbark Warmiński. Apart from learning about extraordinary architecture and fascinating stories about those castles, tourists can admire knights duels with swords, crossbows or battleaxes, learn about customs at knights courts in the Medieval times. Tourists also have a chance to taste Medieval knights cuisine and its specialities.

Churches, among which some should be highlighted,i.e. gothic Cathedral of Virgin Mary in Frombork built in 1330 1338, Marian Shrine in Święta Lipka dated 15^th century as well as the Shrine in Gietrzwałd, nearby Olsztyn.

Święta Lipka is an architectural complex consisting of a church, a cloister and a monastery, which has original and extremely rich decorations. These are sculptures, frescoes, canvas paintings, treasures of goldsmithery and exceptionally rich collection of artistic metalwork.

Marian Shrine in Gietrzwałd (15 km from the hotel) yearly attracts over100 thousand visitors. This picturesquely located village has become famous thanks to the Revelations of Virgin Mary that took place from 27^th June to 16^th September 1877. Main visionaries were two small girls from poor Polish families. From then on, pilgrims from Poland and abroad have visited the place.

Fortifications remnants after various wars; there are also numerous bunkers located in Gierłoż (Hitler’s headquarters) and in Mamerki. There is another fascinating place – Fortress Boyen built in 1844 1856.

Wolf’s Lair in Gierłoż was one of a few quarters in Europe that belonged to the Commander of the Third Reich. It was built as an alleged chemical plant and, surprisingly enough, it hadn’t been revealed by neither Allied nor Rusian Secret Service. The whole complex of bunkers consisted of three groups which once comprised, among others, Hitler’s, Keitl’s, dr Dietrich’s or Bormann’s bunkers, command centres, casinoes or saunas.

Quarters in Mamerki were a similar complex which accommodated about 15000 people. The whole quarters were situated in a forest between the lake Mamry and a railway Kętrzyn – Węgorzewo, thus they were divided into three zones without any factual borders.

Fortress Boyen is situated on the west of Giżycko, on a narrow isthmus between big lakes Niegocin and Kisajno. It constituted the main link in the chain of fortifications bloking the eastern access to the area of Prussia. It was built on the area of 100ha and was considered a vital strategic point of Eastern Prussia. The fortress is surrounded by a stonebrick wall 2303 m long. With the inside area of 100ha.

Numerous examples of vintage technology, such as a railway in Ełk, built in 1910 1917, which is a narrowgauge 750 mm wide and 48 km long in total. Next technical curiosity is the highest rail bridges in Poland, in Stańczyki. Those ferroconcrete structures created in1912 – 1926, 200 m long and 40 m high. A unique site on the international scale is OstródaElbląg Canal. It’s a water route, consisting of three segments 129,8 km long in total, and many side branches. They comprise lakes and navigable parts of rivers flowing into the lake Drużno and the Vistula Lagoon. This genius solution was about building, on the way of this marvelous hydrographic craft, two sluices (Miłomłyn and Zielona) as well as five ramps (Buczyniec, Kąty, Oleśnica, Jelenie, Całuny). The ramps eliminate the water level difference by 99 m. Ships go through the ramps on special carts.

Grunwald Battlefields – situated in the southern part of District Grunwald are a site for unusual events from centuries ago. On 15th July 1410, near Grunwald, there took place one of the greatest battles between the Teutonic Knights (about 21 thousand) under Ulrich von Jungingen’s command and allied forces of Polish, LithuanianRussian, and Chechs (about 29 thousand) armies under Władysław Jagiełło’s command, finished with the Polish and their allies’ victory.

From the distance of several kilometres before Grunwald, it’s possible to see the monument and metal flagpoles situated on the highest hill in the area, called the Victory Hill. On the monument made of a granite prism, there are two knights’ faces, partly covered by their helmets. 30 metre masts, with metal flags with Polish and Lithuanian army signs on them, stand beside them. They symbolise the flags which were hoisted after the victory on the enemy’s area.

Masurian Landscape Park – the area of the park is 53.655 ha, and its protective zones are 18.608 ha, 29.000 ha of which belong to woods, and 17.000 ha belong to rivers and lakes. The rest is arable lands and builtup area. The Park is situated on the border of two different geomorphological forms – postglacial moraines and plains, it protects huge resources of flora and fauna, an abundance of woods, peat bogs, lakes and flowing water. Within the area of the park, there are 11 nature reserves, including a biosphere reserve Lake Łuknajno, with hundreds species of vascular plants, among which really rare Orchids (over 10 species), Slender Cottongrass, Greek Valerian, Turk’s Cap Lily, Northern Firmoss, Globeflower, Leatherleaf, Common Sundew and Adenophora Liliifolia. As for the fauna, it’s possible to bump into wolves, elks, beavers, otters and over 200 species of birds, among which Bitterns or Little Bitterns, Black Storks, Redcrested Pochards, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, WhiteTailed Eagles, Lesser Spotted Eagles, Ospreys, Spotted Crakes, Little Crakes, Corn Crakes, Hoopoes, Eurasian Eagle Owls, Whitethroated Dippers, Common Kingfishers, Kingfishers, Bearded Reedlings, Collared Flycatchers and Spotted Nutcrackers.

The cultural offer of the region is perfectly supported by numerous museums with rich collections of art, craft and goldsmithery. The most popular are:

Museum of Nicolaus Copernicus in Frombork
Wolf’s Lair in Gierłoż
Museum of Gas Industry in Górowo Iławeckie
Museum of Warmia in Lidzbark Warmiński
Museum of Warmia and Masuria plus Museum of Nature in Olsztyn
Museum of Civil Engineering – Etnographic Park in Olsztynek
Museum of K.J. Gałczyński in Pranie
Museum of Folk Art in Piecki
Museum of Grunwald Battle in Stębark
Masurian Museum in Szczytno
Museum of Folk Culture in Węgorzewo

Apart from numerous galleries and museums located at tourist popular spots, a great alternative of spending some free time may be cyclical events, particularly organised in summer time. Most popular are usually water sports events, like: International Sailing Regattas „ Masurian Golden Cup” organised in Węgorzewo, National Sailing Regatta "Blue Ribbon of Jeziorak” in Iława, Sailing Regattas in Mrągowo, Motorboating Regattas in Mikołajki or International Canoeing Along Krutynia. There are also a few cultural, entertaining and artistic events, such as: Olsztyn’s Blues Nights, “Kormoran Rally” and AllPoland Castle Meetings “Let’s Sing Poetry” in Olsztyn, Festival of Sailing Songs “Shanties” in Mikołajki, International Festival of Country Music in Mrągowo, as well as Festival of Fish, Fishing Rod and Music "Sielawa Blues" taking place in Stare Jabłonki, and World Cup of Men’s Beach Volleyball SwatchFIVB World Tour. It shows that the offer is rich and attractive enough not to allow our Guests to get bored in the evenings, after a day relaxation, especially in such places as Iława, Mikołajki or Węgorzewo.