The Łęczna county
The Łęczna County, with the starosty seat in Łęczna, covers the central part of the Lublin voyvodeship. The county has existed within its current borders since 1998, i.e. since the last administrative reform in Poland. The county consists of the following districts: Cyców, Ludwin, Łęczna, Milejów, Puchaczów and Spiczyn. Its area amounts to 634 km2, and the population - circa 57,000 people.
The comparison with the remaining 19 counties in the Lublin voyvodeship shows that the county is inhabited by a relatively small population, whereas the population density index - 90.5 people per km2 - is a little higher than the voyvodeship average (87.2). Almost 40% of the population live in Łęczna (circa 22.3k), the county seat and the only town in this area.
The above mentioned data show that the Łęczna region is little urbanized and a great percentage of the area is changed by man to a small extent.
The Łęczna county lies within the area of three important geographical Lubelszczyzna regions: the Lublin Upland, the Polesie Lubelskie and the Polesie Wołyńskie.
The south-eastern areas of the county lie in the northern part of the Lublin Upland, together with its loess edge sphere, which goes down towards the lowland of Polesie Lubelskie. This fragment of the upland is called the Świdnik Plateau. The summits there exceed the height of 185 metres above sea level, e.g. near Zofiówka and Stawek, whereas in the vicinity of Charlęż there is the highest absolute summit in the Łęczna county (195.4 metres above sea level). It is also worth mentioning that near Kolonia Charlęż there are the biggest local changes of terrain level, between the Bystrzyca lower and upper part, reaching 40 metres.
The most interesting fragment of the Lublin Upland in the Łęczna subregion is the Wieprz valley between Łańcuchów and Kijany, with its environment protected as Nadwieprzański Landscape Park. It is only 4.43 k ha in the area and therefore is one of the smallest landscape parks in the Lubelszczyzna.
The southern part of the park lies in the Dorohusk Depression, one of the mezoregions of the Polesie Wołyńskie. The depression is a basin area, which in the north reaches as far as the Świnka valley. Where soft marl rocks lie shallowly, like near Cyców, there are characteristic forms of surface karst in the form of depressions with no outlet.
The Dorohusk Depression neighbours another mezoregion of the Polesie Wołyńskie - the Chełm Hills. They take up the eastern part of the Łęczna county. In the upper Świnka basin some hills are even 190 or more metres high in absolute values. This interesting area is part of the Chełm Area of Protected Landscape.
The most attractive region of the Łęczna county and this part of the Lubelszczyzna is the southern fragment of the Polesie Lubelskie, known as the Łęczna-Włodawa Lake District. In the whole lake district there are 68 lakes, 14 of them in the Łęczna county. Here there is also the biggest natural basin of the region - the lake of Uściwierz (284 ha), and the deepest one - Piaseczno (38.8 m). Piaseczno - thanks to its beautiful location, clear water, sandy beaches, and an attractive microclimate - belongs to the group of recreational lakes, like Rogóźno, Łukcze i Zagłębocze. From a scientific point of view, the overgrowing lakes with hard-to-reach shores, surrounded with swamps, are especially valuable. Among them, the lakes Brzeziczno and Świerszczów are protected as reserves. Also the lakes Bikcze, Nadrybie, Turowolskie, Łokietek, Uściwierzek and Uściwierz are the sanctuaries of rare flora and fauna species. The old natural basins, Krzczeń and Dratów, have been embanked and serve as storage reservoirs in the land melioration system of the Wieprz-Krzna Canal.
There are also singularities - two water reservoirs with the area of several dozen hectares. Their beginnings are connected with the ground settlement due to the mining works in the coal mine in Bogdanka. These reservoirs are located near the village of Nadrybie (30 ha) and near Szczecin-Kobyłki (circa 80 ha).
The majority of the above mentioned lakes serve as attractive natural surroundings for “Łęczna Lake District” Landscape Park (11,800 ha).
Also the river Świnka plays an important role in the valley landscape. The river feeds the Wieprz in Łęczna, having flown through flowery meadows, lush bushes and wide alders, which accompany meanders and old river beds. (photo 005)
Near Spiczyn one of the most important rivers of the Lubelszczyzna, the Bystrzyca, flows to the Wieprz. Its valley is also very picturesque due to a high western edge shore.
The Łęczna region is rather poor in forest areas, but the existing forests are characteristic for their valuable flora. In the lake district areas forests are varied; they form a mixture of dry, mixed and marshy woods, and even parts of an oak forest. In the Wieprz valley and its tributary, the Białka, there are wide alder and riparian forests whereas in higher parts there are rich mixed forests.
Bigger forest areas near Jawidz change into the famous Kozłówka Forests - already in the Lubartów county.
The Łęczna county also offers tourists interesting monuments of spiritual and material culture. In the old, famous for its horse fairs, town of Łęczna, a monumental urban structure was established. Among the sacred objects of the county there are both Roman Catholic and post-Unite churches and chapels in Łęczna, Puchaczów, Kijany, Milejów, Zawieprzyce and Świerszczów, as well as an Orthodox church in Dratów, an old Greek Catholic church in Cyców and a synagogue complex in Łęczna. The sacred architecture is supplemented by monumental cemeteries and chapels existing in many villages of the Łęczna county. The examples for secular architecture are palace and mansion complexes in Kijany, Zawieprzyce, Łańcuchów or Łysołaje.
The local sacred and secular architecture represents different historic epochs, mostly the Renaissance, Baroque, classicism and eclecticism. There is also cotemporary industrial architecture, creating the mining landscape near the villages of Bogdanka and Stefanów, singular for this part of Poland.
Historic events, which took place in this area, are commemorated by monuments, mounds and graves. They are devoted to heroic national uprisings, but also to soldier endeavours during the two world wars and the Polish-Bolshevik war of 1920.
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