The CCC had for a long time been planning an excursion to the former picturesque port of Kazimierz Dolny on the Vistula River not far from Warsaw. The idea finally came to fruition at Paul van Arkel’s initiative on the weekend of 15/16 July. Some members elected to stay overnight which made it a very pleasant and convivial occasion full of cheer and fine companionship.
At this place, grain from the surrounding countryside was brought and stored in architecturally characteristic granaries by the river for onward transport by horse-drawn barge or sail to Gdansk for export. This is a rare survival in Poland of a largely intact small Renaissance town with fine late Renaissance churches typical of south-eastern Polish architecture. The distinguished historian Adam Zamoyski wrote of the parish church of St. John and St. Bartholomew: ‘One of the most characteristic and beautiful buildings of its kind.’ The market square contains some quite extraordinary seventeenth century houses.
The transparent quality of natural light here attracted many painters and the town has remained an artistic centre and a magnet for artists. The views along the Vistula and the distant silhouette of the castle at the village of Janowiec on the opposite bank make fine subjects for landscapes.
Some eleven cars and crews assembled for the off at the MacDonald’s car park on Wał Miedzeszyński – possibly the largest CCC group we have ever assembled for an excursion except perhaps the one to the Modlin fortress a couple of years ago. We decided on a picturesque minor road to Kazimierz with a first detour en route to Puławy to the magnificent wooden Kościół Matki Bożej Bolesnej at Mariańskie Porzecze.
