Discover Brzesko: History, Architecture and Routes

Architecture and memories around the market square

The buildings around the market square were built after the great fire of 1904. They feature Neo-Renaissance, eclectic and Art Nouveau elements. The former town hall was built in 1909–1910 and is an eclectic building with a four-storey tower. A mosaic featuring the griffin from the town’s coat of arms adorns its south façade. These details make the town hall a distinctive example of Brzesko’s architectural history.

There is also a Baroque statue of St Florian on the market square, erected in 1731. The town’s residents funded it after another town fire. Along with the buildings constructed after the 1904 fire, the statue draws attention to different reminders of the town’s history: one reflects the design of its buildings, the other commemorates a fire.

The history of St James and Jewish heritage

The parish church of St James the Apostle has a historic section dating from the mid-15th century. On 6 October 2018, it was elevated to the status of a sanctuary of St James the Apostle on the Via Regia. The history of St James is also celebrated during the Dni Jakubowe, held every July in Brzesko and drawing pilgrims from various parts of Poland. If you would like to time your trip to coincide with the festival, check the dates and programme for the year of your visit.

The Jewish cemetery in Brzesko was established around 1824. Those buried there include Rabbis Arie Leibusz, who died in 1846, and Towi Lipschitz, who died in 1912. The cemetery was entered in the register of monuments in 1992. Its approximate founding date and the named gravesites offer another point of historical interest in Brzesko.

Culture in the wider Brzesko destination

There is also cultural history to discover across the wider Brzesko destination. In Okocim, the Goetz family palace was built from 1898 to 1900 to plans by Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer. An English landscape park dating from 1900 surrounds the palace, with native and exotic trees and shrubs growing there. The history of the region also includes the Brzesko–Okocim brewery complex, the surrounding buildings and the neighbouring palace and park complex of the Goetz-Okocimski family. It was established from 1845 onwards and expanded until the 1930s.

The Regional Museum in Brzesko displays two bourgeois interiors, landscapes, portraits and memorabilia relating to local history. There are also stops on the discovery trail through the municipality in Szczepanów, Mokrzyska and Brzesko: the Pantheon of Saints, the “Romeo i Julia” natural monument and the Pavimentum Copernicanum. These stops cover a range of subjects, from museum exhibits and portraits to a natural site and other named places.

Cycling loops, walking trails and regional landscapes

Around Brzesko, you can choose from four cycling loops ranging from just over 18 to about 25 kilometres. Audio guides share information about the places visited, local heritage and regional traditions. If you would rather combine cultural history with an active tour, the loops offer a different way to explore these themes. The distances provide a guide to choosing between the four routes.

For walks, the Szlak wokół Brzeska is a marked hiking trail. The Via Regia pilgrimage route runs from Brzesko via Jasień Brzeski and Brzeźnica to Bochnia. In the wider Brzesko destination, Bocheniec rises 394 metres above sea level and is the highest point in the Brzesko area. An eastern rampart remnant of a Wiślan hillfort, dating from the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, has been preserved there. It is about four metres high and 18 metres wide at its base. These regional routes and the archaeological remains offer a different focus from the architecture and historic sites in the town.

Choose a holiday apartment to suit your travel plans

When looking for a holiday apartment in Brzesko, you can start by identifying your main interests. If the market square, church history and town history are your priorities, focus your plans on places in Brzesko. For cycling loops, walking trails or stops elsewhere in the wider destination, it is worth checking the location of a particular accommodation against your planned destinations. This way, you can choose your base to suit the itinerary that matters most to you, without treating visits to the town and excursions to the wider region as the same thing.

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

For the overview of the wider destination: Brzesko.