TRIPS

Klodzko and Zloty Stok

Saturday morning we set off from the Main Station in Wroclaw to Klodzko by a slow train. We got off at the Klodzko City station. Next to the train station there is a bus one from which we got to Zloty Stok by bus. Thanks to a well-signed way to the Gold Mine we had no problem with finding it. Every a few tens of meters there were signs indicating the right direction.

After having bought tickets we had to wait for a while as entrance to the mine is possible only at defined times of a day. At the end, a group of a doze or so of people were gathered. We started our sight-seeing of the Gold Mine from Gertruda Drift. On the whole route we were listening to really interesting stories told by our guide. We got know that final product of the mine was not only gold but also arsenic.

The underground route of the mine is not very long and every a few tens of meters the group stopped at subsequent attractions. Generally, we spend more time on listening to the guide that walking round the mine. We saw a wagon with which the output was transported, laboratory gold kiln, chute for children and collection of boards at the end. During the tour we also saw a gnome – dwarf man who walked along the drifts and illuminated our way.

After leaving the mine the guide led us to the Black Drift nearby. The sight-seeing route is even shorter but it is one huge attraction itself instead. We walked seven floors down the iron stairs and then a few another meters down the drift and finally, saw the biggest underground waterfall in Poland. It is the biggest one not only because it is 10 meters high but also because it is the only waterfall of this sort in our country. Colorful lights make this place even more charming.

However, it was not the end of out visit in the Gold Mine in Zloty Stok. Before going back to Klodzko we had also seen the whole town. In Klodzko we had no problem in finding an entrance to the 1000 Anniversary of the Polish Country Underground Tourist Route. We got to the Underground Tunnels through the entrance in Zawisza Czarny Street. Covering a first few meters we felt coolness of the air in the underground. It was really nice feeling as there was boiling hot outside that day. State of the tunnels was another nice surprise. Fantastically maintained route encouraged us to move further. Large number of lights and properly signed, clean tunnels.

Covering the route without a guide is a great facilitation. You don’t need to hurry and may stop as long as you want in any interesting place. One may watch an underground well, executor’s trunk, instruments of torture, halberds, baker’s stove and take a photo of you after being stocked. After six hundreds meter of walk under the town we left tunnels just at the Fortress of Klodzko.

The next stage of our tour was sight seeing of the Fortress of Klodzko and the Miners Labyrinths. Location and size of the fortress make it really impressive. This huge building dominates the town. Within the fortress there is a tourist route that let you see all the interesting parts. One of the halls is sacrificed to the exhibition of artistic glass works and next to it you may watch the exhibits fro the museum of fire-fighting. From the terrace there is a wonderful overview on Klodzko.

At the end we reached the place where cannons are kept. This is the place where all who is interested in miners’ drifts sight seeing gather. Trip through the underground labyrinths is possible only with guide. Before we got to the place from which one may go down to the undergrounds we has walked a few hundreds of meters along the bottom of old moat. Just like in the case of the Underground Tourist Route there are lights installed in the labyrinths. Unfortunately, drifts are quite low and you have to bend down in some places. In addition, the guide didn’t lead the group but just appeared every some time to indicate direction. Of course, it wasn’t hard to realize that we were covering that longer route while the guide chose shortcuts. The tunnels are quite similar to each other so it would be easy to get lost without guide. At the very end we had to push ourselves through a drift of 135 centimeters height.

Before our return to Wroclaw we also visited the centre of Klodzko. We liked the Main Square, monumental tenement-houses and gothic bridge of Middle Ages. Within one day we saw all the places we planned to visit. That’s why we were coming back home really tired but full of excitement.