The Kampinoski National Park

The Kampinoski National Park was created in 1959 in the Warszawski region (currently the mazowieckie region). It contains the area of the Kampinoska forest in the glacial valley of the Vistula river. This forest is the remaining of the Mazowsze forest. In the 17th century, people began to grub the meadows, cultivate the ground, and build settlements. In the 20th century, the situation began to change. Since the late 1970s, the ground is being repurchased by the Kampinoski National Park and gradually afforested. The restoratio of the boron will last 150 years, and the creation of the precious oak-hornbeam stand will take about 350-400 years. In the park there is a European Bison breeding center in the village of Smardzewice, which takes 72.40 hectares of the Park’s surface.

The most characteristic element of the Kampinoski National Park is probably the dunes created in the Vistula river’s glacial valley, as well as the marsh areas.

Before the Kampinoski National Park was established, there were quite a few historical events taking place in the neighborhood. Most notably, during World War II, between September 9th and September 20th 1939, there was the greatest battle of the September campaign upon Bzura: the „Poznan” and „Pomorze” Polish armies confronted the German army.

Between December 1939 and August 1941, Hitler’s army were making mass executions of the prisoners of Pawiak and other Warsaw prisons.

There are 39 monumental objects at the area of the Park and its protective zone, including the world famous birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola.

In the park, there are also many animals, including mammals (such as the moose, the lynx, the wolf, the forest marten, the fox and the bat) and birds (such as the white stork, the black stork and the kingfisher). There are also trees, such as the oak, the birch-tree and the poplar.