Holy Mother Jaworzyńska Chapel on
Wiktorówki, also known as Holy Mother Queen of Tatra Chapel or Holy
Mother Jaworzyńska Queen of Tatra Sanctuary, is a place willingly
visited by tourists. Located in dense, spruce forest, it encourages
thought and contemplation.
We begin our trip on Wierch Poroniec
(also pronounced Wierchporoniec). There is a small, paid parking lot
and a TPN entry ticket booth. From 1
st november to april
14
th entry is free of pay.
Only on start, our trail will go a
little bit up, just to become nearly flat after couple of minutes.
Great view of Magura Spiska, Bielskie Tatra and High Tatra
accompanies us on the left side. A comfortable path leads us mostly
by forest. After circa one hour of calm march or skitour we get to
Rusinowa Clearing, where a wide panorama of High Tatra (mostly
Slovak) and Bielskie Tatra unfolds. This is a very popular place for
tourists, gladly visited. There are wooden benches on the glade, on
which we can take a rest as long as it is not covered by snow. Even
in winter season, we can get from Rusinowa Clearing to other places
(for example Gęsia Szyja), but we must bear in mind that less
popular trails might be covered after large snowfalls.
After blue signs
we head towards Witkorówki chapel. We leave the clearing and go into
spruce forest. We cross the bridge and face towards steep path, which
might be covered by snow. Small, wooden temple perfectly fits its
surroundings. It was built in 1930s, in a place which already had its
history. It was told, that in year 1861, exactly here in Wiktorówki,
Marysia Murzańska, a local shepherdess, had a vision of Holy Mother.
There are
memorial boards dedicated to people that lost their life in mountains
around the chapel. They form a sort of symbolic cementary. The temple
is administered by Dominican fathers, who were entrusted in year
1957. From sanctuary region, a blue trail leads to Złota Valley exit
(Zazadnia glade). We use it in winter season or go back to Wierch
Poroniec (Wierzchporoniec), to the place where we began our journey.