The best road cycling routes around Otwock

Quite a pleasant place, you can rest

The brickyard in Radzin was established around 1850 as part of the local manor. Initially, bricks were produced solely for the manor's needs, but over time the plant expanded its operations – residents of the surrounding villages began to buy bricks. In 1928, the characteristic brick chimney, towering over the trees, was erected, which dominated the area for years. Residential barracks for workers and their families were also built at the plant. The construction of the massive structures, especially between 1890 and 1930, was a laborious process involving the precise manual laying of hundreds of bricks, layer by layer, on increasingly higher wooden scaffolding. Specialist bricklayers, often risking their lives without adequate safety measures, ensured the perfect verticality and roundness of the structure, using lime mortar and occasionally steel hoops for increased stability. Such height was not an architect's whim – it was a key technological element, ensuring a strong, natural draft necessary for efficient combustion in brick kilns and for dispersing smoke and pollutants far from the plant, which, in the understanding of the time, was intended to protect the environment and human health in the immediate vicinity. The brickyard operated successfully until the tragic December of 1939, when history added a tragic chapter to its story. During the German occupation, in December 1939, an attack occurred in Celestynów on the home of the German Zommer family. In response, German gendarmes carried out a brutal reprisal. It was assumed that the perpetrators of the attack were residents of the settlement near the brickyard. 18 men were arrested (many of them former employees of the plant). The detainees were gathered near the train station. As we read in the memoirs of Władysław Święch, "among them was also Father Banasiewicz". Mrs. Zdziechowska, a resident of Celestynów and German by birth, who knew the priest, attempted to secure his release. In a dramatic gesture, she threw herself at the feet of a German officer, begging for mercy. Her desperate pleas were successful, as the priest was released, but the other men were led into the forest along Osiecka Street, where an execution took place. After this tragedy, the brickyard never resumed its operations.

Baby, babki, babeczki, yeast, shortcrust… and poppy seed rolls! All this awaits you at Sosence!

Wooden figure in front of the station in Celestynów

Jewish cemetery in Karczew-Anielin (colloquially called the cemetery in Anielin) to distinguish it from the actual cemetery in Karczew) – a cemetery founded in the 19th century. During World War II, it was devastated by the Germans, but on an area of 1.7 hectares, about 900 matzevot have been preserved. Jews permanently residing in Otwock were usually buried in the cemetery in Karczew, and those who were patients of Otwock hospitals and sanatoriums – in the cemetery in Karczew-Anielin. Among others, the writer Urke Nachalnik, shot by the Germans in October 1939, was buried in the cemetery, but the exact location of his grave is unknown. During the PRL period, many tombstones were destroyed, graves were plundered, and a high-voltage line was run through the cemetery. In recent years, the Social Committee for the Memory of Jews from Otwock and Karczew has been carrying out cleanup work on the cemetery grounds. In August 2007, heavy boulders began to be laid along the cemetery borders. This made it possible to fence off half of its area.

Good asphalt for cycling

Just to be clear, it's shown on my hike. The photo isn't mine. The location is ANIELN, not Amielin.

Monument to Stefan "Grot" Rowecki in the square named after him. pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Rowecki