Bolesławów – Nowa Morawa – Border Crossing (Płoszczyna Pass) - Kamienica – Bolesławów

Route course:

We set off from the bus stop in Bolesławów. Along the asphalt road in the direction of Nowa Morawa. We ride through the Morawka river valley, on the right hand side we adore the beautiful views of the Bialskie Mountains. Be careful still, even though the traffic is relatively light. We get to the first fork (after ca. 4.2 km), and the road begins to climb among the trees towards the state border. We will have an opportunity to take some rest on Płoszczyna Pass (817 meters) if exhausted from pedaling uphill. Płoszczyna Pass (formerly known as Morawska Pass) separates the Śnieżnik Massif from the Bialskie Mountains. This is the most convenient passage through the Sudety Mountains in the area. It was used as late as the early 20th Century as a commercial route joining Moravia with the Lower Silesia.

We ride back using the same road that we took in order to get to the border, and at the first fork we go left to join the Old Moravian Road. We ride the sloping section, and after a total distance of 8.9 km we reach the highest point on our route (825 meters). The road still leads us through the forest, and the utwardzana nawierzchnia continues as a grit road. The gradient is slowly becoming lower. We come to Old Moravian pass, and at the fork we turn left and follow the blue trail blazes for ca. 1.5 km. If the weather is good, we will be able to see the distant Śnieżnik among the spruce trees. Snow lies on its slopes until the end of May. We go down to Kamieniec, and then along the asphalt road to the starting point in Bolesławów.

Attractions:

Bolesławów – a baroque church of St. John the Bridegroom. The church has got elements of Gothic style dating back to 1598. The building itself was erected along the East-West axis in 1672, and replaced an old Gothic/Renaissance church that had stood there before. It has got one nave and is richly furnished. Inside, we can find sculptures by Michał Klahr, a famous, baroque, Silesian sculptor. We can admire the figures of St. Barbara and St. Jan Nepomucen dating from 1710 – 1740. Another interesting feature of the church is a sundial placed on its facade.

A Figure of St. Franciszek Ksawery with baby angels (1716) commemorates tragic events – a plague. A small figure of St. Jan Nepomucen (1828) stands on the outskirts of the village. Above the church, on Zawady, stone figures of the Apostles were placed.