Suwałki – a Borderland Town (About the Yotvingians, the Camaldolese, Little Orphan Mary, Wajda and the Cold Pole)

Suwałki region is one of the most beautiful places in Poland. Some may joke that it is the “Polish Pole of Cold,” although it is more accurate to call it a pole of diversity and beauty! The word “suwałka” (from the Ruthenian language) roughly means a miscellany. This region lies at the junction of the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus (formerly also East Prussia) and for centuries has been a place where people of different languages and faiths met.

During this one-day trip we will tell stories about the mounted warriors – the Yotvingians, as well as about the Lithuanian community and Old Believers, Orthodox and Evangelicals, who make up Suwałki’s diversity. On that day we will visit the Maria Konopnicka Museum and the Stara Łaźnia Gallery.

REGISTRATION: ZAPISY

Program:

• Meeting point: April 11, 2026 (Saturday) at 6:00 AM at the parking lot in front of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, opposite Kinoteka. Departure towards Suwałki at 6:10 AM. Planned return to Warsaw at about 10:00 PM.
• Suwałki – a borderland town: a walk through the historic centre; stories about the founding of the town and its connection with the Camaldolese monastery in Wigry; getting to know figures such as Maria Konopnicka, painter Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski and Andrzej Wajda; the most important monuments, murals and gnomes.
• Maria Konopnicka Museum: touring the museum and presenting the life of the author of “About the Gnomes and Little Orphan Mary” and the poem “Rota.”
• Lunch/coffee break: about 1 hour 15 minutes (we will advise where to eat well).
• Stara Łaźnia Gallery: in the walls of the former municipal bathhouse we will see, among others, an exhibition of works by Andrzej Strumiłło.
• Suwałki of many religions: visiting the Orthodox church, the Evangelical church and the Old Believers’ molenna.

Departure back towards Warsaw, planned return around 10:00 PM.

Price: 250 zł/person + offerings in the temples.

You are warmly invited!