Dziekanowice

Dziekanowice (pronounced as Dzyekhanovitse) is a small village in Wielkopolskie Voivodship, in Poland, appr 16 km westwards of Gniezno and 40 km eastwards of Poznan, about 2 km north of the train line and road linking two mentioned cities and just next to Ostrow Lednicki. The village is on the area of Lednicki Landscape Park.

By bus
Independent travel to Dziekanowice seems to be quite challenging - there are just few daily connections to the village. There are 3 buses to Poznan, 4 to Gniezno and 2 to some other surrounding villages, which have no meaning for tourists. It's much easier to get to the bus stop Dziekanowice-skrzyzowanie (pol.: crossing) which is located at the main road number 5, but from there one must walk more than 1 km to the museum.

By train
Numerous connections (depending on the day - up to 14 daily) to Lednogora (34 km from Poznan and 17 from Gniezno, 38 and 17 minutes ride respectively), from where one must walk appr. 2km. It's essential to know, that accelerated and Inter-Regio trains do not stop at the station (that's why the number of connections to Lednogora is smaller than to Gniezno).

By bike
Cyclists can get in to Dziekanowice using a Piast Cycling Trail, starting in Poznan just next to the crossing of Jana Pawla str and Baraniaka str, nearby the shore of Malta Lake. cycling time (depending on speed and e.g. wind) 3-4 hours. An interesting option is to take your bike to train with you one way and come back by bike - all trains stopping at Lednogora are traditional electric trains with a big compartment for bikes.

By car
Use the country road number 5 from Gniezno or Poznan, turn northwards at the monument of three ancient knights toward the village and the Museum.

See
The most important attraction in the place is the Greater Poland Etnographic Park - a big open-air museum, one of the biggest in Europe. It presents village buildings from all over the region, mostly timber ones, from the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries. The museum, existing since 1982 (however formally established 7 years before) occupies an area of 20 hectares and includes more than 60 buildings (the final plans include 10 more). The surrounding also keeps rural character: numerous gardens, orchards, cattle pens, stockyards. The whole museum is divided into three parts: village, court and grange.

The sightseeing takes usually between 1 hour 30 minutes and 2 hours. It's the best to start the tour in the village, than stroll to the windmills, and from the passing by a chapel to the court of the village of Studzieniec. On the way some other attractions: the original XVIIIth-century equipment of an old smithy, interiors of a peasant's house, a hill with a magnificent view over the Lednickie Lake.

The most interesting exhibits in the Museum are:
 * a timber croft from the surroundings of Kalisz from 1841
 * a house from Godziesze Wielkie (as well surroundings of Kalisz), an example of the house for the poorest
 * an inn from Sokołowo (surroundings of Chodziez) with a big distillery
 * a church from Wartkowice from 1719, re-consecrated in 2001, occasional holy masses
 * an Olender-croft from the vicinity of Nowy Tomysl – an example of Olender buildings in northern and western Greater Poland in XVIIIth century
 * a chapel and cemetery – the temple originates from outside historical Greater Poland region (it's from the surroundings of Torun), it's a gift of polish Roman Catholic church Primat, cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, for the museum. Inside: a baroque altar from XVIIIth cent; around the church: some graves and cemetery crosses.
 * a copy of the court from Studzieniec (50 km north of Poznan) from the Ist half of XVOOOth cent. Inside you can find a small exhibition presenting an everyday life of noble families in the period between the world wars.

Tickets: the museum is open from early spring (in 2009 from February 15th) till autumn (in 2009 till the end of October). A ticket for the Ethnographic Park costs 8 zloty (reduced: 4), but a combined ticket from the museum and form Ostrow Lednicki: 12 and 6 respectively.

Do
The museum is a place of several interesting events:
 * 2nd half of March: Marzanna Drown (Marzanna – a traditional polish effigy, has to be drown and the turn of winter and spring (appr. 21st March) as a symbol of passed winter
 * the long May-weekend (1st-3rg May) – May Lednica Days, meeting with regional Greater-Polish handicraft, the events takes place both in the Museum and on Ostrow Lednicki island
 * June: „The Life Museum" – a presentation of a typical life of Greater-Polish countryside at the beginning of last century.

Eat
In the vicinity:

And the snack-bars in the area of archeological Ostrow Lednicki

Go next
Interesting objects in the vicinity:
 * Ostrow Lednicki - remnants of the ducal palace from IInd halt of Xth century with a baptism bowl, chapel and 9-m high ramparts
 * the Fish-Gate (a fish as a symbol of the first Christians in 1st cent AC), where every year in May–June a large youth meeting run by the Dominicans from the Poznan monastery are organised
 * timber churches in Weglewo and Lubowo
 * Pobiedziska