Ojcow National Park is a national park in Krakow County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, established in 1956. It takes its name from the village of Ojcow, where it also has its headquarters.
It is Poland's smallest national park, with an original area of 14.40 km2, since expanded to 21.46 square kilometres (8.29 sq mi). Of this area, 15.28 km2 is forested and 2.51 km2 is strictly protected. The park is approximately 16 kilometres north of Krakow, in the Jurassic Krakow-Czestochowa Upland.
Karsts topography of soluble bedrock characterizes the park, which in addition to two river valleys (the Pradnik and Saspowka) contains numerous limestone cliffs, ravines, and over 400 caves. The largest of these, Lokietek's Cave (said to have sheltered King Wladyslaw I Lokietek, for whom it was named), is 320 meters deep. The area is also noted for its rock formations, the most famous being Hercules' club, a 25-meter-high limestone column.
Ojcowski Park is very biodiversity; over 5500 species reside in the park.
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The earliest settlement in the area dates to the Palaeolithic, approximately 120,000 years ago. The Ojcow region is rich in flint, which attracted early humans.
The park contains numerous castles, including a ruined Gothic castle at Ojcow and a better-preserved Renaissance castle at Pieskowa Skala, both of which were part of a late-medieval system of defences in south-western Poland.
There are two museums in the park, the Professor Wladyslaw Szafer Museum (named for the first person to advocate the creation of a national park in the Ojcow), and a branch of the Krakow-based National Art Collection located in the Pieskowa Skala castle.
Royal castle Niepolomice a copy of royal castle Wawel Niepolomice go to Krakow  "Zamek Krolewski WAWEL")
Royal Castle WAWEL "Barbakan")
The Barbakan of Krakow is a gateway to the old town.
Ojcow is a village in Gmina Skala, in Krakow County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland.[1] It is one of the sights of the Eagle Nests Trail (Szlak Orlich Gniazd), as there are the ruins of a gothic castle near the village. The village is where the authorities of the Ojcow National Park (the smallest of Poland's 23 national parks) have their headquarters. It lays approximately 4 kilometres (2 mi) south-west of Skala and 18 km (11 mi) north-west of the regional capital Krakow.
Inside the ruins of the Gothic Castle 
The Renaissance castle at Pieskowa Skala
 Pieskowa Skala, first mentioned before 1315 as "Castrum Peskenstein" in documents of Polish king Wladyslaw Lokietek, is located near the village of Suloszowa in the valley of river Pradnik, 27 km north of Krakow, Poland, within the boundaries of the Ojcow National Park. Pieskowa Skala is famous for its Renaissance castle built by King Kazimierz Wielki in the 1st half of the 14th century as part of the defensive chain of castles called Eagles Nests along the plane of Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska extending north-west from Krakow to the city of Czestochowa. 
 Restaurant is located on the top of the castle The Lokietek's cave takes its name after King Wladyslaw Lokietek who, as the legend says, hid here from the soldiers of the Czech King Vaclav before being crowned. Until this very day, Lokietek's bed is still in the cave, and like all the legends around Krakow it possesses the magical power of granting wishes, just put your hand on it, and think of a wish. 
  "Lokieteks Cave")  "Lokieteks Cave") Ojcow National Park has over 400 caves. 
Ojcow National Park is a national park in Krakow County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, established in 1956. It takes its name from the village of Ojcow, where it also has its headquarters. 
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enlarge Ojcow and Pieskowa Skala
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