Moniecki: Architecture, Local History and Cycling Route

National Road 65 connects Gołdap with the border crossing at Bobrowniki and passes through the area of the municipality of Mońki. Railway line No. 38 also runs through the municipality. The railway station itself is in the centre of Mońki, west of the DK Białystok–Ełk road. The first two details describe transport routes at the municipal level, while the last gives the location of a specific building.

The railway station in Mońki is an example of railway architecture in the dworkowy style of the interwar period. Dworkowy can be rendered as manor-house style; the term describes the architectural style, while the interwar period gives its timeframe. The ground floor of the historic station housed a buffet, a ticket counter, a waiting room and a goods weighbridge. This former arrangement gives an idea of the different functions once brought together in the building.

Another architectural landmark is the parish church of Our Lady of Częstochowa and Saint Casimir. Built in the 1920s in the Neo-Baroque style to a design by Warsaw architect Stefan Szyller, it is one of the municipality’s attractions. Mońki is thus home to both an example of railway architecture and a religious building with its own architectural history. In Sikory, meanwhile, the manor house is one of the oldest wooden residential buildings in Podlaskie Voivodeship.

The so-called Pisarowa Góra near the village of Krzeczkowo is associated with traces of early settlement. Elsewhere in the municipality, traces of manor complexes form part of the cultural landscape: Hornostaje is home to the remains of a manor house, while Wojszki has the remains of a former manor garden. These places point to different historical themes—early settlement, a manor house and a garden—and can therefore be clearly distinguished from one another.

Sikory offers a perspective of its own: the wooden manor house there links the place name with the history of rural residential buildings in Podlachie. So, if you are planning your trip around cultural interests, you can distinguish between architecture in Mońki, historical traces in the places mentioned, and a cycling route as another way to explore.

One route description runs from Mońki through Sikory, Kalinówka Kościelna and Przytulanka, and back to Mońki. The route therefore starts and ends in Mońki; Sikory is also home to the manor house, one of the oldest wooden residential buildings in the voivodeship. This allows two different aspects of the municipality to be considered together when planning a trip, without equating the cultural significance of a place with information about a specific journey time.

The rules for the 2025 edition name the Moniecki Ośrodek Kultury as organiser of the 29th Voivodeship Competition for “Zdobnictwa Obrzędowego Cyklu Wiosennego i Świąt Wielkanocnych” (Traditional Decorations for Springtime and Easter). The competition brings together spring customs and Easter decorations. The works listed include decorated eggs, palms, floral decorations, straw spiders and paper cut-outs. The 2025 edition provides the specific timeframe for this cultural theme.

Discover more destinations: Goniadz, Mońki, Gugny, Dolistowo Stare, Laskowiec, Guzy, Augustowski and Zambrów.

Where is the railway station in Mońki?

The station is in the centre of town, west of the DK Białystok–Ełk road. It is an example of railway architecture in the dworkowy style of the interwar period.

Which places are connected by the described cycling route?

The stated route runs from Mońki through Sikory, Kalinówka Kościelna and Przytulanka, and back to Mońki.

What works are listed for the 2025 edition of the competition?

The works listed are decorated eggs, palms, floral decorations, straw spiders and paper cut-outs. Traditional production is specified for the decorated eggs; the other decorations listed are to follow local tradition.

For the broader travel overview: Podlachie.