Szczebrzeszyn

On the way from Zamosc to Zwierzyniec we stopped for a while in Szczebrzeszyn, which is known for a Brzechwa poem about a beetle. Every child in Poland knows it, and it is so popular because no foreigner can say those words correctly. On the market square, in front of the town hall, we found a statue of a beetle. It looked more like a cricket, though.

The beetle statue stands on the market square in Szczebrzeszyn (Kościuszki Square), in front of the town hall. It is a 2-metre bronze sculpture by local artist Zygmunt Jarmuł, inspired by Jan Brzechwa's poem „Chrząszcz” (The Beetle).

The location is popular among people who are not fluent in Polish. Repeating the words of the poem “W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie i Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie” is quite a challenge for them. It’s even too hard for our children to say it correctly.

Fun fact: there is a reason the beetle looked like a cricket to us. The bronze statue on the market square, unveiled in July 2011, actually shows an insect similar to a grasshopper or a locust, not a beetle. There is also a wooden beetle at the foot of Castle Hill (Góra Zamkowa), a nice thing to look for with kids.

Practical info

Where to find the beetles

• the bronze beetle stands on the market square in front of the town hall,
• the wooden one is at the foot of Castle Hill, by a spring next to a historic mill.

How much time

When we were there in 2015, a short stop on the market square and a photo with the beetle were enough.

On the route

We visited Szczebrzeszyn on day eleven of our Eastern Poland road trip, and on the same day we also went to the ZOO in Zamość.

And here’s a short video of our visit to the market square: