The best cycling routes around Liw

In the very heart of Węgrów, in the market square, stands a bench with the figure of Pan Twardowski. It is a symbolic point of the walk, where legend meets the city's history and its urban layout. For centuries, the Węgrów market square has been the center of life: trade, meetings, and events. It is surrounded by the most important buildings, including the monumental Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Węgrów, with which the most famous thread of the Twardowski story is associated – the mirror attributed to the sorcerer. From a geographical perspective, the market square lies on a slight elevation of the plateau, safely above the Liwiec valley. It was precisely this location that favored the establishment of cities: dry, stable, and at the same time close to the river, which provided water, fertile meadows, and communication routes. Sitting next to Twardowski in the market square, one can discern three layers of this place: • historical – the former layout of the chartered city, • legendary – the story of the sorcerer and the mirror in the basilica, • geographical – the relationship of the city with the Liwiec valley. This is a good starting point for a walk: from the center, where the meaning of Węgrów is concentrated, before the road leads towards the river and the open space of the valley.

There is no crossing, but you can walk there in the summer

The original church from 1407, endowed in 1478 by Jan Litawor Chreptowicz, the royal chancellor. The next one built in 1676 by Emerencjana Mleczko. The current brick parish church, built in 1788 by Aleksander Ossoliński, Lithuanian sword-bearer, consecrated in 1837 by Bishop Jan Marceli Gutkowski. Baroque-neoclassical style.

View from the bridge over the Liwiec River

In the Węgrów Market Square by the Municipal Public Library, a bench was placed on which Master Jan Twardowski sits holding a magic mirror, there is also an open book in which a text in Polish and English is written translating the Latin inscription on the mirror frame: "Twardowski played with this mirror, performing magic arts, now he is destined to serve God". The bench was made from a cast by the Kruszewski Brothers Bell Foundry in Węgrów. It refers to the legends of the famous Master Twardowski and the Twardowski Mirror, which is located in the Minor Basilica in Węgrów. The mirror was donated to the Węgrów church in the 18th century by the founder of the church, Jan Dobrogost Krasiński.

Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saints Peter, Paul, Andrew and Catherine in Węgrów – parish and collegiate church in Węgrów. Minor basilica since 1997.

We will come across Sowia Góra by driving the road from Liwo to Węgrów and turning right just after the bridge over the Liwiec River. The elevation is located about 1.5 km just behind the town of Jarnice. Sowia Góra is a famous hill in the area, quite high, from which there is a beautiful view of the Liwiec Valley, the large and irregular bend of this river, where local residents and tourists relax from spring to summer.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the mason Niclos (Mikołaj) began the construction of a brick castle on an artificial island surrounded by the swamps of the Liwiec River – the border river of Mazovia and Lithuania. Liw was distinguished for its military importance – the castle was one of 6 brick fortresses built by the Mazovian prince Janusz I the Elder. Founded on a plan close to a square (32 × 33 m), it had two parallel buildings separated by a courtyard and a gate, similar to the castles in Borysławice, Kórnik, Łowicz and Gosławice.