The Trail of the World War I Eastern Front in the Małopolska Voivodeship leads to places which hosted key battles between the Austro-Hungarian and German armies and the Russian army on the eastern front of the Great War during the years 1914–1915.
The trail leads through Kraków and Kraków-Częstochowa Upland to Krzywopłoty, which saw battles in November of 1914, and then down south to the battlefields near Łapanów and Limanowa, and farther to the regions, which hosted the Battle of Gorlice in early May of 1915 – the victory of Austro-Hungary and Germany.
As you travel through the Lower Beskids, you can encounter numerous unique war cemeteries. The Gorlice region has almost one hundred of these. The most noteworthy are cemeteries no. 91 in Gorlice on top of Cemetery Hill, no. 122 and 123 in Łużna-Pustki, or no. 118 in the village of Staszkówka. The attributes of the cemeteries designed by the greatest artist among Galician war cemetery architects, Dušan Jurkovič, include exceptional wooden towers, chapels and beautiful crosses in picturesque locations. Most interesting of cemeteries with Jurkovič designs are no. 60 on the Małastów Pass, no. 46 Beskidek in Konieczna, no. 51 on Rotunda Hill near Regietów, no. 52 in Zdynia, and no. 55 in Gładyszów.
When you travel south from Tarnów, you should pay a visit to the site of the December 1914 battle near Łowczówek and the war cemeteries of the Tarnów region. The most beautiful ones include cemetery no. 171 in Łowczówek, the complex of cemeteries no. 191, 192, and 193 in Lubinka and Dąbrówka Szczepanowska designed by Heinrich Scholz – a talented sculptor and chief architect of the Tarnów region, cemetery no. 185 in Lichwin, cemetery no. 138 in Bogoniowice, or cemetery no. 293 in Zakliczyn – the only Eastern Galician war cemetery built from scratch for soldiers of Jewish origin only.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.visitmalopolska.pl/szlakpierwszejwojny/Strony/main/main.aspx