In Szczepanów, religious history and smaller traces of local life come together. The Basilica minor, a circular route with information boards, and the Via Regia section give the place a clear religious focus. Wells and cemeteries add other specific points of interest.

Basilica minor and pilgrimage routes

The parish church of St Mary Magdalene and St Stanislaus in Szczepanów was elevated to the status of Basilica minor by Pope John Paul II in 2003. The Sanctuary of St Stanislaus is also a reference point for two different routes. A tourist and religious circular route with 20 information boards runs around the sanctuary and through its immediate surroundings. The boards make the route a distinct way to explore the religious themes of the place. Check local trail conditions before planning your trip.

Another point of reference is Via Regia section 14a from Szczepanów to Brzesko. It is a six-kilometre feeder route connecting the Sanctuary of St Stanislaus of Szczepanów to the pilgrimage route network. This clearly defines the route’s length and purpose: it is a feeder route within the network, not simply a walk around the sanctuary. If you plan to use it, check current route conditions before travelling.

Local history and distinctive buildings

A stone communal well with a crank and a shingle roof stands in Szczepanów’s market square. It is the only surviving communal well of its kind and is no longer in use. The Brzesko municipality also lists the bell tower in the parish cemetery as a place of interest. The First World War Military Cemetery No. 273 in Szczepanów is another place of interest. These sites offer different perspectives: the well recalls communal water supply, while the two cemetery sites represent religious and military remembrance.

More cultural highlights in Brzesko

Brzesko has its own cultural context, explicitly rooted in the town. The town’s eclectic town hall has a four-storey tower and was built in 1909–1910. The Jewish cemetery in Brzesko was entered in the monuments register in 1992. The Regional Museum in Brzesko displays two bourgeois interiors, landscapes, portraits, and local-history memorabilia. Together, these examples offer different ways to explore the town’s history: architectural history, Jewish heritage, and museum collections.

The landscape and archaeological heritage are also part of Brzesko’s story. At 394 metres above sea level, Bocheniec is the highest elevation in the Brzesko area. Its surviving eastern rampart remnant belonged to a Wiślan hillfort dating from the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries; it is about four metres high and 18 metres wide at its base. The urban and architectural complex of the Brzesko–Okocim Brewery, the surrounding buildings, and the adjacent Goetz-Okocimski family palace and park complex were established from 1845 onwards and expanded through the 1930s. In Okocim, a 1900 English landscape park surrounds the palace, with native and exotic trees and shrubs growing there.

Discover more destinations: Połom Mały, Iwkowa, Brzesko, Biesiadki, Uszew, Łysa Góra, Czchów, Mokrzyska.

Go to the main travel overview: Brzesko.