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Poland

Podlaskie Voivodeship

powiat augustowski

gmina Augustów

Święte Miejsce Sanctuary on the Rospuda River

Discover

Places to see

Natural Monuments

Poland

Podlaskie Voivodeship

powiat augustowski

gmina Augustów

Święte Miejsce Sanctuary on the Rospuda River

Highlight • Religious Site

Święte Miejsce Sanctuary on the Rospuda River

Name: Święte Miejsce Sanctuary on the Rospuda River
Rating: 2

Recommended by 25 cyclists

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Location: gmina Augustów, powiat augustowski, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland

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Top cycling routes to Święte Miejsce Sanctuary on the Rospuda River

4.5

(20)

riders

1. Green bicycle trail "Around the Rospuda Valley" (loop from Augustow)

58.1km

04:15

250m

Hard bike ride. Good fitness required. You may need to push your bike for some segments of this route.

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Hard

4.5

(27)

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2. Augustów – Augustów Lock loop from Augustów

49.9km

04:00

230m

Moderate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Moderate

5.0

(3)

riders

3. View of Lake Wigry – Wigry National Park loop from Suwałki

65.3km

04:44

270m

Hard bike ride. Good fitness required. You may need to push your bike for some segments of this route.

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Hard

Tips

Jaro🇵🇱⛷️🛶🚴🏃‍♂️

July 24, 2024

The Holy Place is located on the banks of the Rospuda River next to the Jałówka River and Lake Jałowe. There is a chapel built in the fence from 1990 and several wooden and stone crosses, as well as a large wooden shrine.

In fact, the sacred place is most likely located on the site of the former cemetery of the Orthodox church built by Bohdan Hrynkowicz Wołłowicz after receiving the grant of the forest - around 1514. It was patronized by St. John the Baptist - hence so many names related to the name of John in the area. Local people have been gathering in this place on June 24 for a long time. They prayed, ate a ritual meal, washed in the nearby Jałówka River, made offerings under the crosses - money and food, and tied decorative towels on them. As ethnographers explain, these rituals are characteristic of the Orthodox holiday of Jordan. Similar behaviors are seen in the Mińszczyzna region, where some of the population probably came from. Today, the holiday is officially sanctioned by the local priest.

suwalszczyzna.com.pl/info/miejsca/uroczysko-swiete-miejsce
I will only add that this is where most kayakers often end their trip down the Rospuda River, some continue on to Goła Zośka (a beach and a statue on Lake Rospuda).

Translated by Google •

Peter Wolf

February 11, 2021

Description
Holy place - a forest clearing on the Rospuda River on the edge of the Augustów Primeval Forest, north-west of Augustów. Next to it is the mouth of the Jałówka River, which carries water from the nearby Jałowo Lake. An ancient place of religious worship from pagan times.
Inside the wooden fence there are: a chapel from 1990, several wooden and stone crosses, cabinet chapels and a large wooden saint. On one of the wooden crosses, which are clearly very old, there is a copper plate with the information that the cross was issued in 1283 by the converted, baptized Yotvingians of the Skomęta team before they went to Zambia. Although the cross was burned by the pagans and thrown into the river, it miraculously survived and stands to this day. The text on the plaque was signed by Father Antoni Kochański, the parish priest in Janówka. The cross owes its interesting appearance to numerous small coins pressed into the dry wood by pilgrims.
On this site there was probably a cemetery of the Orthodox Church. St. John the Baptist, built by Bohdan Hrynkiewicz Wołłowicz, a horseman from Grodno, around 1514, shortly after Sigismund the Old received the grant of this part of the forest.
For centuries, every year, on St. John - June 24, a ceremony was held here, during which locals prayed, ate a ritual meal, washed in the Jałówka River (which is considered miraculously healing) and offered money and food under the crosses, tying decorative towels to them. These rites most likely had their origin in the Orthodox celebration of Jordan and were brought by the settlers in the 16th century. The tradition has survived to this day - every year in St. John, a mass is celebrated in the chapel.

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Tadej

June 6, 2025

The Holy Place can be reached by bike better from the direction of Rączki than from the direction of Janówka (a steep, sandy descent).

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Elevation 130 m

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Location: gmina Augustów, powiat augustowski, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland

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Święte Miejsce Sanctuary on the Rospuda River

1. Green bicycle trail "Around the Rospuda Valley" (loop from Augustow)

2. Augustów – Augustów Lock loop from Augustów

3. View of Lake Wigry – Wigry National Park loop from Suwałki

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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