Church of the Archangel Michael and Salt Mine in Bochnia
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
204 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 49
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Frydman it runs 204 km to Frydman; allow about 4 h 49 of riding. On the way it passes Church of St Leonard, Salt Mine in Bochnia and back through Church of St Leonard. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Scenic road chapters
Tatra Foothills Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 55 km this is Tatra Foothills Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
55 km
Named road
Tatra Foothills Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of the Archangel Michael
From the outside, the church in Dębno Podhalańskie looks like a sturdy wooden barn with a steep shingled roof and a squat tower, the kind of building you might ride past without a second glance. Step inside and the walls explode with colour: every surface covered in stencilled and painted patterns, animals, plants and geometric figures, dating back to around 1500, one of the best-preserved medieval painted interiors in Poland. The church, built of larch in the late fifteenth century, is part of the UNESCO listing of Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska, a group of Gothic timber churches that show the skill of local carpenters who built without nails.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Archangel Michael is where the day begins. Next is Church of St Leonard.
2. Church of St Leonard
The hills around Limanowa in southern Poland have a nickname that suits them perfectly: the Beskid Wyspowy, the Island Beskids. Instead of forming a continuous ridge, the summits rise individually from the surrounding valleys like islands from a sea, each one wooded, rounded and separate. Driving through the area is a constant game of spotting the next hump on the horizon. The famous wooden church of St Leonard stands at Lipnica Murowana, in the hills to the north of here, and it is one of the Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland listed by UNESCO in 2003.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of St Leonard comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Salt Mine in Bochnia.
3. Salt Mine in Bochnia
People were mining salt at Bochnia by the middle of the thirteenth century, which makes it the oldest salt mine in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe still open to visitors. For centuries the salt from here and from Wieliczka, about twenty-five kilometres to the west, filled the coffers of the Polish kings; at times it accounted for a remarkable share of the royal income. Together the two mines and the royal castle at Wieliczka form a UNESCO World Heritage site.