Podlaskie

There is a region in Poland that can be easily called … The Wild East. It still has not been affected and overwhelmed by today’s Great Tourism movement. It is in fact unspoiled, as yet. Only a small group of the initiated knows that apart from the pristine quality of its nature, a fascinating borderlands culture waits here for those who wish to explore this region. And where do we find this mysterious place? The Podlaskie Voivodship, the best kept secret in Poland.

The Podlaskie Voivodship lies in the north-eastern part of our country, just next to the borders with Lithuania and Belarus. Here, the civilizing progress of our times is constantly losing its battle with nature which lies protected in four national parks and three natural parks.

The central part of the region is bisected by two rivers surrounded by swamps: the Biebrza River (the refuge of 271 bird species, including the endangered Acrocephalus paludicola and Philomachus pugnax, is an internationally recognised treasure) and the Narew (one of the two plaited rivers in the World). Polish Catholics, the Orthodox Church with Belarusian origins and the descendants of Tatars live together in the villages lost in the Knyszynski Forest. The crosses of churches, domes of Orthodox churches and half moons of mosques can be seen on the roofs of their wooden houses.