Pilec: Lakes, Mills and Rural History

At the southern end of Lake Dejnowa lies Pilec, a village with a rural settlement character, historic mills and routes on water and land. This offers different ways to plan your trip: you can explore the lake district, learn more about the village’s history, or discover Pilec as a stop on a kayaking or cycling route.

Lakes and a moraine landscape

The Pilecki Pond (Pühlzer Muhlenteich) is in the village and covers an area of 4 hectares. Pilec is also located at the southern end of Lake Dejnowa. Southwest of the village, nearby, is Lake Kociołek (Kessel Teich), which covers 1.50 hectares. According to local legend, a sunken church lies at its bottom.

Pilec lies within the Guber Valley Protected Landscape Area and the Mrągowo Lake District. The surrounding area is a glacially formed moraine landscape with rolling terrain. Elevations range from around 180 to 200 metres above sea level. The landscape is therefore characterised by both bodies of water and undulating terrain. If you are choosing a holiday destination primarily to explore the region’s natural environment, you will find specific points of interest here: the lake on the edge of the village, a pond in Pilec and a smaller lake to the southwest.

Local history and historic buildings

Pilec was founded in 1326. The village retains its original rural settlement layout, as well as historic mill and residential buildings. Its history also includes a church and a castle that still stood in the 15th century. A chapel is located in a former blacksmith’s building and is cared for by Jesuit priests from the parish in Święta Lipka.

The mills also shape Pilec’s history: the first mill was built almost 700 years ago. At the former mill site, a dam channels the waters of the Dajna into a lake. This link between past use and the present-day landscape gives the village a distinctive historical character, setting it apart from a trip focused solely on the lakes. For visitors interested in culture, both the preserved rural layout and the individual buildings are among the features that define Pilec.

Kayaking and cycling routes

The 36-kilometre-long Dajna Kayak Trail passes through Piecki, Mrągowo, Kiersztanowo, Pilec and Święta Lipka. In Pilec, the route has a portage point by the old hydroelectric power station and mill; the riverbank there is steep. If you are planning to include a kayaking trip in your travels, this specific stretch is an important point of reference. The length of the route and the steep bank at the portage point are separate details to take into account when planning.

A section of the Grodzisk Pruskich cycling route also passes through Pilec: the 24.7-kilometre-long section runs through Mrągowo, Polska Wieś, Kiersztanowo, Pilec and Święta Lipka. The educational walks offer another cultural perspective; they were created by Robert Połubiński, a resident of Pilec, and cover, among other topics, the life of the Prussians. Pilec thus brings together local history, landscape and different routes through the region. When deciding whether to visit, you can consider whether you would like your trip to focus primarily on rural architectural history, the waterways or one of the routes mentioned above.

More village pages: Leśny Rów, Karolewo, Grabno, Kętrzyn, Jezewo, Łęknica, Reszel, Muławki.

For the broader travel overview: Kętrzyński.