Jastrzebia Gora

This charming little town lying on the Polish seacoast is famous as a popular holiday resort. Only a short distance away is a special geographical place; the most northerly point of Poland, known as the “Star of the North”. Beside beautiful beaches and many venues crucial for whiling away one’s time in the summer, it is equally attractive in other seasons thanks to the marvellous beech forest forming the “Cape Rozewie” national park, a 350 m long gorge known as Foxy Ravine and an old lighthouse.

Jastrzebia Gora TOURISM

The town is surrounded by the “Cape Rozewie” National Park, which is an excellent place for walks and includes the particularly worth viewing Lisi Jar (Fox Ravine). According to legend, the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa was rescued here when returning with his army from an unsuccessful campaign against Sweden.

Jastrzebia Gora is especially attractive for the young because of its many discos, pubs, shows, concerts and many other ways of having a good time beside sunbathing and enjoying water sports. The high cliff on Cape Rozewie is topped with an old lighthouse containing a museum of lighthouses and from where you can admire a scenic view over the sea, nearby towns and the Hel peninsula. Wladyslawowo, 9 km west of Jastrzebia Gora, is worth visiting to try out the Sowinski amusement park with its go-carts and the possibility of a ride on the steam locomotive to Jastrzebia Gora.

GEOGRAPHY

Jastrzebia Gora is one of the main holiday resorts of Kashubia. The town is located on several hills, and is famous for its high cliffs (33 m above seal level) protecting the town from the sea. In the 1960s a tower lift was built, but it tumbled down due the destructive power of the sea, which washed away the cliff it was built on. Nowadays, 300 steep steps lead down to a 200 m wide sandy beach. The nearby cape of Rozewie (2 km from the town centre) is the northernmost point of Poland, known as Gwiazda Polnocy (Star of the North). You need around 1h to visit Gdansk with its many tourists attractions.

HISTORY

Jastrzebia Gora (lit. Hawk Mountain) was mentioned in written sources for the first time in 1848 when it had the German name of Habichtsberg and the Polish name of Pilice. After the regaining of independence by Poland, it was renamed after a local hill, Gora Jastrzebska (67.8 m), though there are also suggestions that the naming was connected with the hawks living there in large numbers.

Since early 1920s Jastrzebia Gora has been the most popular resort for Polish high society and politicians – including Jozef Pilsudski (first Polish marshal and prime minister), Edward Rydz-Smigly (commander-in-chief and the last Polish marshal), and Ignacy Moscicki (president of Poland 1926-1939). Due to the many famous people coming to vacation in Jastrzebia Gora mainly from the Polish capital city, the place was called jokingly “the new Warsaw”. In the 1930’s Jastrzebia Gora started to develop rapidly – the road leading to Wladyslawowo eased the movement of tourists and it soon became one of the trendiest places on the Polish coast. There is a permanent population of about 1,000, but during summer this number increases to 30,000.