Baranów Sandomierski

The next town we reached was Baranow Sandomierski, where we visited our family. We spent two active days there: Sunday and Monday.

To reach Baranow Sandomierski we needed to cross the Vistula river. We chose the ferry (the third time during our road trip). This ferry, however, differed from the others - in this case it was powered neither by a motor nor by hand: it used the current of the river. The ferry was set at a suitable angle to the current and thus moved along the cables to the other side of the river. At the end of the crossing, the water level in the Vistula was so low that someone needed to help the ferry reach the shore.

On Sunday afternoon we had the chance to see a quite rare competition - a firefighters' tournament. The competition took place at the Sports Stadium in Baranow Sandomierski. The grandstands were full of fans, and on the pitch were Youth Firefighting Teams, Women's Firefighting Teams, and Volunteer Fire Brigades from the city and municipality of Baranow Sandomierski.

After watching the firefighters' competition, we had a chance to see the castle in Baranow Sandomierski. It is a former magnate residence built in the late sixteenth century on the site of a medieval knight's manor. In the fifteenth century, the mansion belonged to the noble Baranowski family, later the castle changed owners several times. Architecturally, it resembles the royal Wawel Castle, hence the residence is called "Little Wawel". The castle was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt after the war. It is built on a rectangular plan, with four towers at the corners and in the middle a beautiful courtyard surrounded by two-storey cloisters. Around the castle is a beautiful park with a fountain.

Fun fact: the present castle was built by the Leszczyński family between 1591 and 1606. Its design is attributed to Santi Gucci, an Italian architect and court artist of King Stephen Báthory.

A flood embankment runs along the Vistula in Baranów. Near the embankment, behind the castle, there is a beautiful observation tower and a children’s playground with a huge dragon, which you can climb on.

During our visit we also had time reserved for the family, and the kids had a chance to play. Many thanks for your hospitality.

At the end, a short video: