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Ustroń

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Overview

Ustroń is a mountain resort in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland, 82 km south of Katowice, with a population of 16,000 in 2022. Poland's largest river, the Wisła or Vistula, arises nearby in these Beskids mount

Wikivoyage guide · 14 sections

▸Introduction225 chars

▸Understand744 chars

This village is first documented in 1305, when it was part of a scheme to populate Upper Silesia. As well as obvious trades based on agriculture and forestry, Ustroń was a centre for metal-working, and Klemens Steel Works opened in 1772. Distance from raw materials and markets put it at a disadvantage to the industrial towns growing around Katowice, and the steelworks closed in 1897. By then the fashion for mountain resorts, spas and sanatoria was under way. From the 1950s the communists built a grand sanatorium complex, where disabled workers could wheeze the mountain air between furtive puffs of their cigarettes, and parts of this are still in use. There are hiking trails, and a chairlift provides access to the mountains year-round.

▸By plane135 chars

Katowice (KTW IATA), Kraków (KRK IATA) and Ostrava (OSR IATA) all have a good range of European flights and are about 90 minutes drive.

Facts

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Source

WBP almanac

External sources

Wikivoyage Wikipedia

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From Wikipedia741 words

Introduction

See also: Ustroń, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Ustroń" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Place in Silesian Voivodeship, PolandUstrońTown Hall FlagCoat of armsUstrońCoordinates: 49°43′10″N 18°48′43″E / 49.71944°N 18.81194°E / 49.71944; 18.81194Country PolandVoivodeship SilesianCountyCieszynGminaUstroń (urban gmina)First mentioned1305Town rights1956Government • MayorPaweł SztefekArea • Total58.92 km2 (22.75 sq mi)Population (2019-06-30) • Total16,073 • Density272.8/km2 (706.5/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postal code43-450Car platesSCIWebsitehttp://www.ustron.pl Ustroń ([ˈustrɔɲ] ⓘ; German: Ustron) is a health resort town in Cieszyn Silesia, southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship. It lies on the Silesian Beskids mountain range. The Równica and Czantoria mountains are nearby.

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Regional trains run from Katowice every two hours or so, taking 1 hr 40 min via Tychy, Pszczyna, Zabrzeg and Skoczow. They make four stops in Ustroń, all simple platform halts:

1 Ustroń the main station is 1 km north of town centre. It now houses a teddy-bar museum.

2 Ustroń Zdrój is closer to the main town.

3 Ustroń Brzegi

4 Ustroń Polana

Trains continue up the valley to make five stops in Wisła, the end of the line

▸By bus403 chars

Long-distance buses don't come here. Wispol is the local bus line:

W2 from Bielsko-Biała: six a day, taking 50 min via Skoczów and continuing to Wisła.

52 from Cieszyn hourly, taking 40 min via Goleszów, and continuing to Wisła, Istebna and Koniaków.

W3 from Cieszyn: six a day on the same route, continuing to Wisła, Przełęcz Salmopolska and Szczyrk.

Buses make multiple stops, there's no bus station.

▸See3,034 chars

1 Muzeum Stara Zagroda, Ogrodowa 1, ☏ +48 33 854 3108. Closed. Wooden farmstead from 1768 recreating life of that era. It's only open in summer, and hasn't opened in 2024. (updated Aug 2024)

2 Kościół św. Klemensa, Daszyńskiego 15. The Church of St Clement was built in late baroque style in stages from 1780 to 1840. Clement (d 98 AD) was an early bishop of Rome, possibly Peter's immediate successor. (updated Aug 2024)

3 Kościół Jakuba Starszego, Kotschego 1. The Lutheran Church of James the Elder is a small neoclassical building completed in 1838. Elder or Great St James refers to the apostle, martyred 44 AD. (updated Aug 2024)

4 Dąb Sobieskiego - the Sobieski Oak - is on Daszyńskiego, 100 m south of the main railway station. It was planted in 1683 to mark the march-past of the troops of Jan III Sobieski to Vienna. There allied with Hapsburg forces they repulsed the besieging Ottomans, who never again reached so far into Europe, and spent the next 230 years in decline.

Muzeum Rdzawe Diamenty (Rust Diamonds Museum), Kościelna 21 (by Ustroń railway station), ☏ +48 605 356 315. Tu-Su 11:00-17:00. Collection of vintage motorcycles. Adult 20 zł. (updated Jul 2024)

Dworzec Dobrych Myśli (Good Thoughts Station), Dworcowa 4 (within Ustroń station), ☏ +48 509 066 933. Daily 10:00-18:00. Teddy bear museum for children. (updated Aug 2024)

5 Muzeum Ustrońskie im. Jana Jarockiego (Jan Jarocki Museum), Hutnicza 3, ☏ +48 33 854 2996. M-F 09:00-16:00, Sa Su 09:00-13:00. This displays the history of local metallurgy and forging, ethnography and art, and spa treatment in Ustroń. It's in the 200 year old former headquarters of the Klemens ironworks. Adult 10 zł, conc 7 zł, free Monday. (updated Aug 2024)

Muzeum Zbiory Marii Skalickiej (Maria Skalicka Collection), 3 Maja 68 (facing Brzegi station), ☏ +48 33 858 7844. W-Sa 11:00-16:00. Part of Jan Jarocki Museum, this is the art and ethnography collection of Maria Skalicka (1923-2002). (updated Aug 2024)

6 Leśny Park Niespodzianek (Forest Park of Surprises), Zdrojowa 16, ☏ +48 33 515 255 161. Daily Apr-Oct 09:00-18:00, Nov-Mar 10:00-16:00. Wildlife park ranged on the slopes of Równica, with Polish fauna such as bison, fallow deer, roe deer, mouflons, deer and wild boar. Some animals can be petted and fed. Raptors include eagles, falcons, hawks and owls, with flying shows. Adult 55 zł, conc or child 45 zł. (updated Aug 2024)

7 Równica Sanatorium is the centrepiece of a spa and rehabilitation complex built in the 1950s/60s, with 17 of a planned 28 buildings completed. They're striking modern designs, especially compared to the many ugly buildings of that period. Równica remains in use as a spa / sanatorium, others have become hotels.

8 Kościół Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego, Lipowska 133, Lipowiec. Holy Cross Church was completed in 1810. The interior is rococo / late Baroque. (updated Aug 2024)

9 Kościół św. Anny (Church of St Anna), Zabytkowa 23, Nierodzim. A wooden church consecrated in 1768, the oldest surviving church in town. (updated Aug 2024)

▸Do720 chars

Amphitheatre is the main live performance arena, on Parkowa behind Jan Jarocki Museum.

Hiking: There are several trails, some reaching the Czech border. The trail to Wisła along the east riverbank is a good choice when the hills are socked in by cloud.

Równica is the 884 m peak just east of town. You can drive to the 750 m mark then the summit is a broad easy trail.

Winter sports: the skiing areas are small and non-linked, best suited for novices and nervous intermediates. The main area is Czantoria, reached by the chairlift starting next to Polana railway station at 389 m, and ascending southwest to Stokłosica forest at 851 m. It runs all year; in 2024 a day ticket is 35 zł. Palencia ski area is smaller still.

▸Sleep900 chars

The town is packed with hotels, guesthouses, and rooms for rent.

1 Hotel NAT, Szpitalna 88, ☏ +48 572 663 272. Central, clean but facilities worn and tired. B&B double 450 zł. (updated Aug 2024)

Grażyna, Władysława Sikorskiego 10 (by Zdrój station), ☏ +48 33 854 1367. Smart clean chalet. B&B double 250 zł. (updated Aug 2024)

2 Willa Kraj, Adama Mickiewicza 3, ☏ +48 33 854 1059. Friendly B&B, good breakfasts. B&B double 300 zł. (updated Aug 2024)

3 Willa Kolor, Gałczyńskiego 2b, ☏ +48 33 854 5619. Welcoming place with good cooking. B&B double 250 zł. (updated Aug 2024)

4 Gościnny Dom, 3 Maja 23, ☏ +48 606 557 128. Spacious friendly guesthouse. B&B double 700 zł. (updated Aug 2024)

Hotel Belweder, Zdrojowa 15 (above Forest Park of Surprises), ☏ +48 33 854 8500. Comfy spa hotel on the mountainside. You might need snow chains for the bumpy access lane. B&B double 450 zł. (updated Aug 2024)

[edit] Saint Anne church, before 1932 The settlement was first mentioned in a Latin document of Diocese of Wrocław called Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis from around 1305 as item in Ustrona. It meant that the village was in the process of location (the size of land to pay a tithe from was not yet precise). The creation of the village was a part of a larger settlement campaign taking place in the late 13th century in the area that would later be known as Upper Silesia. Politically, the village belonged initially to the Duchy of Cieszyn, formed in 1290 in the process of feudal fragmentation of Poland, and was ruled by a local branch of Piast dynasty. In 1327, the duchy became a fee of Kingdom of Bohemia, which, after 1526, became part of the Habsburg monarchy. The village became a seat of a Catholic parish, mentioned in the register of Peter's Pence payment from 1447 among the 50 parishes of Cieszyn deanery as Wstrowe. In 1772, the Klemens Steel Works was opened and the village was gradually industrialised. When the steel work was closed in 1897 the market town switched to be more orientated towards a health and spa resort. After the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, a modern municipal division was introduced in the re-established Austrian Silesia. Ustroń as a municipality was subscribed to the political district of Bielsko and the legal district of Skoczów. In 1856, it gained market town rights. According to the 1880–1910 censuses, the population of the municipality dropped from 4,375 in 1880 to 4,275 in 1910, with a majority being native Polish-speakers (91.5–92.8%), a growing minority speaking German, and dwindling Czech-speaking population. In terms of religion, in 1910, the majority were Protestants (57.1%), followed by Roman Catholics (40.4%) and Jews (2.5%). Ustroń was also traditionally inhabited by Cieszyn Vlachs, speaking Cieszyn Silesian dialect. After World War I, the fall of Austria-Hungary, the Polish–Czechoslovak War and the division of Cieszyn Silesia in 1920, it became a part of Poland. According to the 1921 census, Ustroń had a population of 3,998, 95.45% Polish, 3.48% German, 0.75% Jewish and 0.3% Czech. Memorial to local victims of World War II It was then annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. After the war it was restored to Poland. It gained town rights in 1956. Since the 1960s, Ustroń saw a large development of new hotels and health centers. A cluster of pyramid-shaped hotels were built in the town. It was also expanded by merger of the surrounding villages: Nierodzim in 1974, Hermanice and Lipowiec in 1975. It was administratively located in the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. Ustroń is the home of the Jan Jarocki Museum, which was founded in April 1986 as the Museum of Metallurgy. It is housed in an old building of the former Klemens Steel Works, which was in use between 1772 and 1897. The museum collects technical tools, as well as historical and ethnographic artifacts.