Zinar Castle
ZR Hotele
Kosciuszko mound
Photo gallery 3
A memorial site dedicated to a fighter for the independence of Poland and the United States, a popular destination for walks and an excellent vantage point. In good weather, you can see the Tatra Mountains from its peak, 100 km away!
The most popular road to the mound leads from the tram terminus in Salwator along Bl. Bronisława through the hill remembering the beginnings of settlement in today's Krakow. Once called Sikornik, the hill is now named after the Norbertan nun Bronisława, who lived in the hermitage in the surrounding forests and died in the odor of sanctity. Apparently, it happened that one of the Norbertines, who doubted Bronisława's account of her mystical visions, suffered a confusion of senses.
On the way we pass a villa estate from the beginning of the 20th century, established in accordance with the idea of a garden city, and also the Salwator Cemetery, considered the most beautifully situated necropolis in Kraków. He is buried here, among others Stanisław Lem, a world-famous science fiction writer.
The mound itself - a symbolic grave of Tadeusz Kościuszko, a hero who first deserved merit in the war for the independence of the United States, and then in the defense of independent Poland - was built like the early medieval mounds of Krakus and Wanda. In the years 1820-1823, Poles from all three partitions (Polish lands occupied by Russia, Austria and Prussia at the end of the 18th century) participated in its construction. The memorial site quickly became a reflection of the idea of a solidarity-based fight "for your freedom and ours", it reminded Poles of heroic times and encouraged Poles.
In the mid-19th century, the mound was taken over by the Austrian army and included in the fortification system of the Krakow Fortress, built in and around the city. It was rebuilt with a fort, but made available to the public in accordance with the previously given guarantee. Today, in independent Poland, in military buildings, you can see the permanent exhibition Kosciuszko - a hero still needed.