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which increased the number of visitors. At the same
times the owner of the village, Ludwik Czartoryski,
inspired by the ideas of Ebenezer Howard, gave 100
hectares of land to be developed as an innovative
‘settlement-forest’ which he saw as a local application
of the garden suburb idea, espoused and promoted by
Howard. After 1945 Ojcow was nationalised and the
resort ceased.
History
The Pradnik Valley contains the oldest traces of
human settlement in Poland. The presence of caves in
the limestone cliffs, together with copious flint and
water, and a varied terrain offering opportunities for
defence, almost certainly attracted people to the
valley.
The oldest finds in caves (120,000-115,000 BC) are
probably linked to the Acheulean cultural traditions,
recognised as one of the oldest in Europe, and also to
the Levallois-Mousterian and Micoquian-Pradnik
tradition. The finds testify to hunting and the
collection of wild food. Traces of settlement for the
later lower and middle Palaeolithic periods are also
found in the vicinity of rock shelters. With the
discovery and use of bronze and the abandonment of
flint there seems to have been a loss of interest in the
area in the Bronze Age (2200-600 BC), but settlement
once again resumes in the Iron Age – and Roman
settlements are found in the vicinity of Ojcow.
The early medieval period saw an intensification of
settlement in which strongholds built on rocky spurs
projecting into the valley played a key role.
Permanent settlement of the valley begun to form in
the medieval period. Almost all the surrounding
villages were in existence in the 13 th and 14 th
centuries and the same era saw the development of
permanent fortifications and castles. The royal estates
in time passed to magnates and the church. By the
mid 13 th century, the Grodzisko and Skale estates
belonged to the Poor Clares, a religious order, while
in 1378 the Pieskowa Skala estate passed into the
possession of the Szafraniec family. Only Ojcow
remained in the hands of the king. This division of
land persisted until the collapse of the Polish
Republic in 1795.
Many of the estates were divided into manors in the
15 th and 16 th centuries. A period of economic
prosperity in the 16 th century – the ‘golden age’ for
Poland – led to the rapid expansion of villages.
Further development was brought about by the resettlement
of craftsmen in the 18 th century when new
settlements were created along the river.
After the partition of Poland, between Russia, Prussia
and Austria in 1795, the valley found itself under
Austrian rule. In 1809 Ojcow and the surrounding
area were joined to the Kingdom of Poland and then
in 1815 to the Congress Kingdom. In 1829 the
government sold the Ojcow estate to private owners.
After the loss of independence and the final
establishment of the frontiers of the Partitions, Ojcow
came to be seen as one of the most pleasant places in
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the south of the Congress Kingdom and begun to
attract artists, poets and intellectuals. The tradition of
visiting picturesque places – prevalent over much of
Europe – encouraged many distinguished visitors
such as Chopin and the last Polish king Stanislaw.
In the 19 th century, the area was much developed as a
summer and health resort with the building of Swiss
style hotels and villas. The first phase of building was
destroyed in the January Uprising of 1863 but
replaced in the second half of the century.
Attempts to protect the valley date from the early 19 th
century, prompted by concerns over the
indiscriminate felling of forests by merchants, and the
looting of cave deposits. Two private owners were
instrumental in buying up parts of the area in order to
exercise control over its use. And at the end of the
century a company managed to buy the castle of
Pieskowa Skala, together with the surrounding forest,
in order to protect them from development. These
early conservation approaches had a profound
influence elsewhere in Poland.
But it was not until the period between the two world
wars that a State Commission for Nature
Conservation was appointed and research begun into
the area. After the Second World War, in response to
many conferences and organised pressure, the
forested areas were taken over by the newly created
State Forest Agency of Ojcow, which became the
Ojcowski National Park in 1956.
Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be
overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World
War II. It became a soviet satellite after the war, and,
in 1990, an independent state.
The last twenty years have seen a rapid decline in
agriculture in the Pradnik Valley and a steady
increase in tourists.
Management regime
Legal provision:
The nominated area and buffer zone are already
protected by national policy and legislation: ‘within
the nominated property there is strict control
preserving the existing form of the cultural
landscape.’ The key document is the decree of the
Council of Ministers of 8 August, 1997, which
established the principles of land use in the ONP. The
property is embedded within the Network of
Landscape Parks of the Jurassic limestone uplands,
created in 1981, which forms ‘the largest area of
landscape protection in central Europe’.
The buffer zone consists of the rest of the ONP and its
own protective zone.
Management structure:
The director of the ONP is the key manager who
coordinates the work by other owners, such as the
Church authorities, the Royal Castle of Wawel or
private owners. All work is carried out in strict
accordance with principles established by the