Owińska

Owińska is a village of 2,200 people (2014) in the centre of the Greater Poland region of Poland, 17 km from Poznan. It is on the right (eastern) bank of River Warta, in the western-most part of the Puszcza Zielonka forest.

Get in

By train

The quickest way to get here is to use train leaving the station in Poznan 8-10 times daily, heading to Wągrowiec or Golancz. All connections are now served by modern, air-conditioned diesel units. The travel time is 20-25 minutes, but given the traffic situation in Poznan it's the best solution.

By bus

Another option is to use suburban buses, served by Transkom bus company. Most of them depart from Srodka bus station (accessible from the centre of Poznan by trams: #1, #4, #6, #7, #8, #17 or buses #63, #67, #83 i #85). Lines going to Owinska are: 310 and 312; or you can use Poznan Fast Tram line to stop "Al. Solidarnosci" are there catch Transkom bus number 313, bus this line runs only 8 times daily, compared to about 40 times – when talking about 310 and 312. Travel time from Srodka station: about 30 minutes. More information: on the Transkom website.

Another alternative are PKS buses, leaving from the main bus station in the centre of Poznan – most buses going to Wagrowiec, Skoki, Nakło or Oborniki/Rogozno/Chodzież/Piła through Murowana Goślina. Travel time (in normal traffic): about 40 minutes.

There are plans to open a pedestrian and cyclists' bridge over river Warta from the district of Poznan: Radojewo (accessible from the centre by city bus line #67).

By car

Owinska are located next to regional road number 196, which begins in the north-east suberbs of Poznan at the crossing of Baltycka and Gdynska streets (crossing of country roads number 5 and 92). Driving time from the centre of Poznan in normal traffic – 25-30 minutes.

Get around

Owinska is a small village, so it's navigable on foot.

See

Despite Owinska is a small village, it has several interesting sights:

• Post-convent church of Cistercian nuns, nowadays a parish church of St. John the Baptist. From the first half of 18th century. It's been erected according to the project by Pompeo Ferrar, but the previous romanesque and gothic walls have been used as well. Rich baroque interiors, very precious wooden stalls, carved rokoko confessionals and wall-paintings done by a Poznan master from Franciscan order: Adam Swach (who originally had come from southern Bohemia). It's worth to pay attention to the main altar with six carved columns and the statue of Our Lady on the seventh one.
• The cistercian Convent, erected according to the project by George Cattenazzi. Nearby – in the park next to Warta flow, 500-year-old oak tree (circumference 770 cm). Nowadays the convent places a school for blind children.
• The classicistic palace – the work of the famous Berlin architect Friedrich Schinkel, next to it – an English Park (16 hectares) located in the place of previous oak forest with the wet alder-tree part, established in the first years of 19th century by Paul Lenne, the creator of gardens in Potsdam

Do

Twice a year (in winter and in summer) the Centre for Blind Children in Owinska organises art and photography workshops for young artists.

Eat

In Owinska, the only place to eat is the restaurant in Hotel Jasmin: , tourists can use the pizzeria in neighbouring Murowana Goslina - 8 km away or some fast-food bars in Kozieglowy (7 km).

Sleep

• Hotel Jasmin in Owinska. 
• The Rest Centre of the Poznan Academy of Agriculture in Zielonka (in the heart of Puszcza Zielonka forest Puszczy), ☏ +48 61 81 22 251 ext 323. 
• The Youth Centre in Antoniewo, ☏ +48 61 812 42 51. 
• The Hunters' Inn in Katy, ☏ +48 61 81 22 161, +48 61 81 22 177. 
• Hotel RELAX in Murowana Goslina, 47, Poznańska str., ☏ +48 61 81 22 211. 
• Hotel "Dwa Stawy" (The Two Ponds), Kaminsko 4, ☏ +48 61 81 22 121. 
• Agrotouristic Pension, Boduszewo 13, ☏ +48 601 776 240, +48 61 81 12 938. 
• and - of course - in numerous hotels in Poznan, which is only 17 km away.

Connect

• Tourist Information in Owinska, in the palace gate, Tu Th 14:00-18:00, Sa 10:00-17:00, Su 12:00-17:00, phone: +48 509 750 709
• A Regional Union Puszcza Zielonka, 8, Nowy Rynek, Murowana Goslina, phone: +48 61 81 13 801 mailto: biuro@puszcza-zielonka.pl
• the Church of St. John the Baptist: Phone: +48 61 812 65 02, mailto: owinska@archpoznan.org.pl (parish priest: Rev. Kazimierz Tomalik)

Go next

Continuing the travel northwards of Poznan it's nice to spend a day or two in Puszcza Zielonka forest, or to go further toward Wągrowiec.