Parks and nature
Katowice's largest city park, with the Valley of Three Ponds, a roller-skating track and remnants of the Silesian Forest
Culture
a library founded in 1922, since 1998 in a building designed by the ARAR group
Cemeteries and monuments
80-tonne bronze monument by Bronisław Chromy from 1978 on an artificial hill
Parks and nature
the forecourt of the Silesian Library with a drop hammer and a green with old trees
Historic sites
classicising airfield complex of 1929 with a control tower and colonnades
Churches and monasteries
parish church from 1983 on the Paderewski-Muchowiec Estate, with stained glass by Roman Nyga
Cemeteries and monuments
reinforced concrete monument of 1986 with bas-reliefs, today above a city skatepark
Things to do in the Paderewskiego estate and Muchowiec: Katowice Forest Park, the Silesian Library, a former airfield and monuments in Katowice.
The Paderewskiego estate and Muchowiec form a district of Katowice with two faces: a large forest park and a library building on one side, an interwar airfield and monuments from several decades on the other. A route is easy to adapt to the weather, because some of the sites are outdoors and some are indoors.
Begin with Katowice Forest Park, the largest area of landscaped greenery in Katowice by surface. It runs along the valley of the Leśny Stream, has the Valley of Three Ponds, a 4-kilometre inline skating track and woods that are a remnant of the old Silesian Forest.
A black PTTK trail, the Park Trail, leads from the park. It is about 4.2 km long and joins Katowice Forest Park with Kościuszko Park, starting at the church of St Michael the Archangel. It suits a walk on foot between two parks.
The best choice is the Silesian Library at Rady Europy Square 1, a regional research library founded in 1922 and housed in its present building since 1998. Its collections concern Upper Silesia and the Dąbrowa Basin as well as the social sciences and humanities.
In front of the building lies Rady Europy Square, which holds a protected drop hammer, a plaque marking a former Protestant cemetery and old trees. The plaque is a reminder that the place once had a different character from today.
The main landmark of the district is the former airfield complex at Lotnisko 40: a classicising group of buildings from the late 1920s with a control tower and colonnades, entered in the register of monuments. Muchowiec airfield has operated since 1929, and the complex ranks among the most valuable examples of interwar aviation architecture.
Two monuments stand out. The Polish Soldier Monument is a bronze by Bronisław Chromy, unveiled on 6 October 1978 on a hill by Żołnierza Polskiego Square. The Monument to Miners' Toil, a reinforced-concrete work from 1986 with a sculpture of miners and bas-reliefs, now crowns a skatepark from 2011 on Pułaskiego Street. Among churches, note the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Graniczna Street, a parish church from the 1980s with stained glass by Roman Nyga.
Katowice Forest Park, the Park Trail, the Silesian Library with Rady Europy Square and the former airfield. Add the monuments and the church depending on your route.
Yes. The park, Rady Europy Square, the trail, the monuments and the outer buildings of the former airfield are all seen in the open air.
The Park Trail, a black PTTK trail about 4.2 km long. It joins Kościuszko Park with Katowice Forest Park.
On the page for attractions in the Paderewskiego estate and Muchowiec.
