"Round Karsibór Island" Biking trail

“ROUND KARSIBÓR ISLAND” BIKING TRAIL (yellow) – ca. 21 km

START

Along the “Karsibór” ferries east wharf, and then over the Piastowski Bridge to the island of Karsibór.

 
ON THE TRAIL

• The Piastowski Bridge [0.5 km] – built in 1966, over 370 m long, with the 4.2m wide, one-way traffic roadway; in 2012 it will be replaced by a new bridge whose construction was started in the autumn of 2010, and which is going to be 420 m long and 9.3m wide to enable two-way traffic;
  
  
• U-Boot Basin [0.9 km] – built in 1944, until the end of the WW II it was the U-Boot base of the Kriegsmarine 4^th training flotilla;
  
• The eastern breakwater of the Piastowski Canal fairway gate [6.8 km] – expanded in the course of dredging of the canal’s fairway and elongated to 666 metres; the navigation signs placed on the western and eastern breakwaters heads guide the ships going into and out of the Piastowski Canal;
  
  
• The church of the Holy Virgin Mary [16 km] ‑ built at the place of the historical crossing of the Świna River to Przytór (on the island of Wolin) which was part of the ancient trade route around the Baltic Sea; the original building dates back to the 15^th or 16^th century; inside under the ceiling there is the “Kolumbia” caravel model; a late-gothic altar, a baroque pulpit and benches dating back to the 18^th century; in 1826 the church was renovated in accordance with the plans of Karl F. Schinkel – one of the most outstanding Prussian architects;
  
• “Karsiborska Kępa” [17 km] ‑ the bird sanctuary of the area of 197.52 ha, located on the island of Karsibór, being part of the Świna Delta; it is an internationally renowned natural reserve which is taken care of by the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds; the most significant breeding species of this reserve and at the same time the reserve’s symbol is the aquatic warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola); there is a viewing tower in the reserve;
  
• Evangelical Cemetery [18 km] – a well-preserved old German cemetery, entered in the register of historical monuments;
  
  
• RAF aircraft members monument [19.6 km] – it commemorates the seven Lancaster M.I. aircrew members serving in the famous RAF’s 617 squadron called „Dambusters”, shot down on 16 April 1945 in the course of raiding the “Lützow” heavy cruiser.