Małopolska

Poland’s spiritual capital began with the arrival of the Paulite order from Hungary in 1382, who named the 293m hill in the western part of the city ‘Jasna Góra’ (Bright Hill) and erected this monastery. Believers are drawn to the site for miracles credited to the Black Madonna painting in the Chapel of Our Lady, though there are many other sights worth seeing, too. The information centre arranges guided tours in English. The monastery entrance is on the south side.

The town of Zamość (zah-moshch) is unique in Poland as an almost perfectly preserved example of 16th-century Renaissance town planning. Zamość was made a Unesco World Heritage site in 1992, and an inflow of development funds since has rejuvenated the town's social media–perfect main square and the impressive fortifications that surround the Old Town.

The town owes its origins to a wealthy Polish nobleman, Jan Zamoyski (1542−1605), who came up with the idea to put a town here in the first place, and to the Paduan architect he hired to realise his dream, Bernando Morando. Zamość wears its Renaissance roots on its sleeve, embracing not one, but two grandiose nicknames: the ‘Pearl of the Renaissance’ and the ‘Padua of the North’. Either way, Zamość is an under-appreciated Polish treasure and worth a trip.

Kielce was the property of the Kraków bishops from the 12th century through to 1789. This palace was built (from 1637 onwards) as one of their seats and remains a testament to the richness of that era. The highlight of a visit is the restored 17th- and 18th-century interiors, which still feel very lived in. Be sure to ask at the admission counter for a free (and excellent) English-language booklet on the sights. With the cathedral, this compound is reason enough to visit Kielce.

This subdued memorial and museum bears witness to the 600,000 Jews killed here in 1942 by the Nazis as part of their ‘Operation Reinhard’, the German plan to eliminate the Jewish population of occupied Poland. There were only two known survivors from Bełżec. The memorial, moving in its simplicity, covers the surprisingly small site of the original camp. Children under 14 are not permitted into the museum, which while small, is very well done. Plan on spending one to two hours.

The village of Janowiec (yah-no-vyets) and its castle make for a delightful day trip from Kazimierz Dolny. You can get there by bus, but a much more scenic journey involves taking a ferry and combining that with either a bike ride or a short hike.

The castle was built in the first half of the 16th century by Italian architect Santi Gucci Fiorentino at the request of Mikołaj Firlej. Through many years and owners (including the Tarło, Lubomirski and Osławski families), the castle grew to more than 100 rooms and became one of the most splendid in Poland. The Swedes began the process of ruination and two world wars completed the castle’s demise.

The castle is still in ruins, but intense renovations have restored some rooms and revived external painted decorations. Upon entering the castle, note the red-and-white striped walls, the decor-of-the-day back in the 16th century.

The castle houses the Janowiec Museum, a branch of Kazimierz Dolny's Vistula River Museum. Inside the grounds, visitors can climb a few levels to viewing platforms offering a wide perspective of the castle and the surrounding countryside. Various rooms show exhibitions and contemporary art. The bluffs in the park beside the castle have sweeping views of the wide Vistula valley. Nearby is a manor house from the 1760s (another part of the museum), which offers insights into how Polish nobility lived.

Save time for cute little Janowiec village at the foot of the castle. Don't miss the 14th-century Gothic parish church (Rynek 6), extensively rebuilt in Renaissance style in the 1530s. Inside is the tomb of the Firlej family, carved in the workshop of Santi Gucci from 1586 to 1587.

Catch the car and passenger ferry on the Kazimierz Dolny side. After the five-minute crossing of the Vistula, there's a tranquil and flat 2km walk to Janowiec village, where you can climb the hill to the castle. Return the same way, following the signs to ‘Prom’.

For centuries Lublin served as a centre of European Jewish culture, earning the nickname the 'Jerusalem' of the Polish kingdom. The first mention of Jews living here dates from the 14th century; around the same period they were granted rights by the king to settle in the area below the castle. Jewish historians look back on the 16th and 17th centuries as the high points for the community. The first census in 1550 shows 840 Jews lived in Lublin; 200 years later Lublin had the third-largest Jewish population in Poland. By the time WWII broke out, around a third of the city’s 120,000 residents were Jewish.

For centuries, the city's Jews lived in the area surrounding Lublin Castle. These days, the area is mostly parking lots. It’s hard to imagine that before the German occupation this was a densely populated community filled with streets, shops and houses. The Grodzka Gate that links the Old Town and the castle area was once called the ‘Jewish Gate’, as it effectively marked the end of ‘Christian’ Lublin and the start of the Jewish quarter. Try to join a tour of the excellent exhibits on Lublin's Jewish history.

This centuries-old neighbourhood came to an end with the Nazi occupation of the city on 18 September 1939. The Germans initially moved the Jews into a restricted ghetto made up of part of the traditional Jewish quarter and a relatively small piece of territory marked by today’s ul Kowalska and ul Lubartowska. The ghetto was liquidated in 1942, with most of the residents sent to their deaths at the extermination camps at Bełżec and Sobibór, and the Majdanek camp within Lublin. Of the approximately 40,000 Jewish Lubliners, only a few hundred survived the Holocaust.

Memories of the Holocaust languished during the communist period, but since 1989, the city has worked at recognising the contributions of the city’s Jews. As a visitor, it’s easy to visit many important sites.

To experience echoes of the lost Jewish community, take a walk to the area northeast of the bus station to see both the Old Jewish Cemetery and the New Jewish Cemetery. The old cemetery dates to 1541. Once inside, it is a jumble of broken tombstone and old trees. There are views to the lost Jewish quarter around the castle. The new cemetery was established in 1829. Part was destroyed first by the Nazis and then by road-building projects. What survives today is a melancholy fragment of the past. Stop at the Hotel Ilan to get keys to both cemeteries. Starting at the bus station, a circular walk that includes the Hotel Ilan, the new cemetery and the old cemetery will cover about 3.4km.

Returning to the centre, the banality of evil is evident at the former headquarters of Operation Reinhard, which was the German name for the extermination of the Jews in occupied Poland. Today the building is a law school and the site is unmarked.

Finally, in the Old Town, the former Jewish orphanage is where on 24 March 1942 the Nazis seized over 100 children and three caregivers. They were taken to a sandlot in Lublin’s east and killed. A new memorial marks this site. In 1948, the bodies were reburied in the new cemetery where there is an older memorial.

A superb source of information on all things Jewish in Lublin is the group Grodzka Gate-NN Theatre (www.teatrnn.pl), which has an enormous amount of information on its website, including a detailed walking tour.