About the route

As part of the project, the 144-kilometre-long tourist route known as “In the footsteps of Austro-Hungary” (99 km on the Polish side, 45 km on the Slovakian side) will be established. It will follow the historical “Józefinka” route, which linked Poland and Austro-Hungary in the 19th century. The “Józefinka” route began in Stropkov and ran through such pilgrimage destinations in Slovakia as Buková Hôrka and the villages of Gribov, Kožuchovce, Miroľa, Bodrudžal, Krajná Poľaná, and Nižný Komárnik, and through Barwinek, Dukla, Korczyna, and Strzyżów in Rzeszow, and ended in Rzeszow (today’s DK 19 and E371 roads). As in the case of the vast military and barrack complexes, its construction in the area was related to the presence of numerous Austro-Hungarian army units.

Nowadays a section of the former “Józefinka” route forms part of the main transit route between Rzeszow and Stropkov. The reconstruction of this historical route, through the appropriate marking of the items of architectural interest dispersed along it, such as barracks, warehouses, tenement houses, and public utility buildings, will restore the unique cultural heritage of the Polish-Slovakian borderland to its inhabitants. The route will be marked out with information boards and directional signs.

The route on the Polish side:

    • Rzeszow: large barracks (Piłsudskiego Street); a complex of railway barracks, railway station, and the building of High School No. 2 (ul. Jałowego), The City Hall, Lubomirski Castle (pl. Śreniawitów), and Barracks (ul. Dąbrowskiego),
    • Strzyżów, the railway station (ul. Żarnowska),
    • Korczyna, a grave from the First World War; a Roman Catholic cemetery
    • Dukla, a Roman Catholic cemetery dating back to the First World War, the building of a former post office, the building of a former magistrate court,
    • Barwinek, a site of battles in 1914 and 1915.

 

The route on the Slovakian side:

  • Stropkov: a manor house, sanctuary, a cemetery dating back to the First World War, buildings dating back to the times of military manoeuvres in 1911 (a retention reservoir and a well),
  • Veľkrop: a military cemetery dating back to the First World War,
  • Bukovce: a monastery,
  • wooden churches: Miroľa, Bodrudžal, Krajná Poľaná, and Nižný Komárnik.

The thematic route in Slovakia will be a cycling path, which retraces the great military manoeuvres of 1911 in the area of Stropkov. Along with the information marks, the route will include some recreational infrastructure (an observation tower, a wooden gazebo, and two shelters with fireplaces). In the winter, this section will double as a skiing trail.