The Trail of the Eagles' Nests (Polish: Szlak Orlich Gniazd) of south-western Poland, is a marked trail along a chain of 25 medieval castles between Częstochowa and Kraków.[1] The Trail of the Eagles' Nests was first marked by Kazimierz Sosnowski. Since 1980, much of the area has been designated a protected area known as the Eagle Nests Landscape Park (Polish: Park Krajobrazowy Orlich Gniazd).
The castles date mostly to the 14th century, and were constructed probably by the order of King of Poland Casimir the Great.[1][dubious – discuss] The trail has been named the "Eagles' Nests", as most of the castles are located on large, tall rocks of the Polish Jura Chain featuring many limestone cliffs, monadnocks and valleys below. They were built along the 14th-century border of Lesser Poland with the province of Silesia, which at that time belonged to the Kingdom of Bohemia.[citation needed]
The Trail of the Eagles' Nests is considered one of the best tourist trails in Poland, marked as No. 1 on the official list of most popular trails in the country. It encompasses all 25 castles and watchtowers, and is 163 kilometres (101 miles) long (the bicycle trail is 188 km (117 mi) long). Most of the sites can also be reached by bus.[2]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
it-jurawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Eagle-Nest Castles - Tourist attractions. Archived 2010-05-01 at the Wayback Machine 2011, KrakowInformer.com (in English)