Five mysterious places worth seeing in the Podkarpackie region

One of the most peculiar places in the region is a pyramid-shaped tomb. It is located in the church cemetery in Międzybrodzie (municipality of Sanok). It is the tomb of the Kulczycki and Dobrzański families of the Sas coat of arms. Made of sandstone blocks, the 3-metre tall structure is a 1:50 scale replica of the Cheops Pyramid. The tomb was designed by Iryna Dobriańska. The slab closing the access to the tomb bears inscriptions in Polish and Ukrainian. Above the slab there is a Maltese cross. This is the largest pyramid in the Podkarpackie region. Three smaller ones are located in the villages of Burdze (District of Stalowa Wola), Jankowice (District of Lesko) and in Sanok.

In the area between the villages of Niwki and Nowiny Horynieckie, on the hill in a forest you can see an ancient place of worship. The Temple of the Sun is one of the most puzzling places in the Podkarpackie region. A group of stones forms a geometrical arrangement, and in the centre there is a large, almost two-metre-tall limestone rock with a round hole in the middle. According to local legends, pagan rituals were held there centuries ago. They would begin at dawn when the first ray of sunlight fell through the hole in the boulder. The rituals may have been connected with the cult of the god Svarog, especially worshipped by the Slavs in this area.

The parish church of St. Stanislaus and St. Adalbert in the village of Poręby Dymarskie (municipality of Cmolas) was originally built in Cmolas in the mid-1600s. After a new church was built in Cmolas in 1977, the old church was moved to the nearby village of Poręby Dymarskie. A bizarre feature inside is the image dating from 1674, depicting the demon Titivillus that was especially feared in the Middle Ages. According to a legend from the 12th century, the demon would linger in monasteries in order to record the errors made by lazy monks. Later, Titivillus relocated to ordinary churches to watch whether the faithful were obedient and focused. In Poręby Dymarskie, Titivillus is sitting under the pulpit with parchment and quill in hand. He has wings on his back, horns on his head, and flame is bursting from his snout. Behind him, there are faces of doomed souls. Anyone who did not pay attention during mass and did not pray diligently was placed on the demon's infernal list. Throughout the world, representations of Titivillus have been preserved in only a few churches. In Poland, his image has also been uncovered in the church of St. James in Toruń.

The most intriguing places in the Podkarpacie region undoubtedly include the bunker tunnel in Stępina-Cieszyna, called Bunker No. 1. This remnant of the German occupation is 393 metres long and the walls are more than 2 metres thick. Its slightly arched shape protected the structure against a direct impact of aerial bombing. On 27-28 August 1941, a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini took place at the Stępina headquarters. The bunker was part of Hitler's headquarters ‘Anlage Süd’ during WWII.

Read an article about The military railway bunker in Stępina

The Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord in Osiek Jasielski is one of the oldest wooden churches in Poland. In 2004, an unusual discovery was made there: human teeth were found below the church belfry. They were embedded between the beams. Even historians and ethnographers could not explain the finding. It is possible that this was the way people offered their pain to the Sacrum, to be saved from more suffering.