The Lutowiska Commune
The name Lutowiska comes from the Russian word „letowyshche” designating a place where cattle and sheep were grazed in summer. The village was set up in the 16th century according  o the Wallachian law in estates that then belonged to the Stadnicki family. The village was first referred to in 1580. The village was located on the intersection of busy trade routes from Sanok to the Tucholska Pass and further to Transylvania and from Przemyśl through the Beskid Mountains or Użock Pass to Użhorod. There was also a local route to the East through Turka to Drohobycz. Such a place encouraged the location of a town. Thanks to the efforts of Ludwik Urbański Lutowiska was granted a charter at the beginningof the 18th century. In 1742 King August III granted the town a privilege to hold ten big fairs a year (by comparison  Sanok and Lesko only held two big fairs a year). In the 19th century the big fairs in Lutowiska were famous throughout Europe. People chiefly traded in oxen that were grazed on high-elevation meadows (poloninas). They were grey, long-horned cattle called Hungarian, willingly bought even by merchants from Western Europe. During thebig fair the whole Lutowiska was packed with cattle, a few thousand animals were here at a time. Lutowiska’s centra consisted then of two adjoining market places surrounded by wooden houses, which mainly belonged to Jews, a majority of the town’s population. Lutowiska lost the status of town in 1919, though it remained the region’s significant trade and administrative centre until the Second World War. The census of 1921 discovered 261 houses inhabited by 2125 people. In 1939 the settlement already had about 3500 inhabitants. In June 1942 Gestapo officers from Ustrzyki Dolne shot ca. 650 local Jews. They also burnt the synagogue and Jewish houses, practically all the wooden buildings in Lutowiska. Between 1945 and 1951 Lutowiska was within the Soviet borders, the name was changed to Shevchenko. At the end of 1951 a mere 28 families lived there. Resettlers from the Sokal and Hrubieszów regions mainly moved to the deserted houses. The village only reverted to its original name after a few years. In 1951 Lutowiska became home to communal authorities. 

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Poland’s south-easternmost, the Lutowiska Commune is one of the country’s largest communes. On the East it borders the Ukraine, on the South – Slovakia. The commune’s area (with Poland’s lowest population density) covers the parts of the Bieszczady Mountains that are most attractive in terms of natural beauty and interest for tourists. In order to protect the scenery and unique flora and fauna species the Bieszczady National Park was established, a part of the “Eastern Carpathians” International Biosphere Reserve. The commune also has the Valley of the River San Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The commune’s special location and its tourist attractiveness resulted in the rapid growth of tourist farms in the last years. Hospitable farmers welcome everybody, even the most demanding tourists. In addition to the clear air, healthy food and beautiful scenery they offer many other attractions. The local microclimate provides excellent conditions for the Lutowiska Commune to become a more and more attractive place for tourism and recreation. An interesting event that took place in 2000 enhanced the place’s tourist attractiveness. A group of Ukrainian citizens, former Lutowiska residents resettled to the USSR in the 1950s, indicated the place where local church bells had been hidden on a former church hill in Lutowiska. Two well-preserved bells were dug out, one weighing 500 kg and the other - 100 kg.

Things worth seeing

• The brick neo-Gothic church built between 1911 and 1920 with a plaque commemoarting the resettlement of people from the Sokal and Hrubieszów regions as part of the “H-T” (border compensation) action in 1951; • The obelisk commemorating the mass execution of 650 Jewish people from Lutowiska in 1942; • Orthodox churches in Smolnik (1791) and Chmiel (1906); • Ruins of Orthodox churches in Krywe, Brzegi Górne and Hulskie; • Historic cemeteris in Lutowiska, Smolnik, Dwerniczek,Caryńskie, Chmiel, Dźwiniacz Górny, Beniowa, Bukowiec, Sianki, Wołosate, Brzegi Górne; • The Jewish cemetery in Lutowiska. Bicycle and walking tourism A fascinating bicycle route with a length of 106 km is one of the commune’s major tourist attractions. Collectively with 8 neighbouring communes, bicycle routes form a network of the “GREENWAYS BIESZCZADY”. The bicycle path is designed for people who want to actively relax on a mountain or trekking bike during a holiday or a weekend break. On the way one can see interesting places, beautiful scenery and many monuments of architecture.

The Lutowiska Commune has a number of walking paths.  Particularly worth attention is the international tourist route (marked in red) that runs across the commune’s  most beautiful places. All the routes are described in detail in guidebooks and leaflets published by the Lutowiska Commune Office. For more details please contact the BPN Information-Educational Centre in Lutowiska, tel. (0-13) 461-01-66. The commune’s historical-nature trails offer another forms of active recreation.

Important telephone numbers:

•The Police station in Lutowiska, tel. (013) 461-00-07

•The GOPR Regional Station in Ustrzyki Górne,

tel. (013) 461-06-06

•The GOPR Group Centre in Sanok, tel. (013) 463-22-04

•The GOPR Station on Mount Połonina Wetlińska,

tel. 0-608 483 017

•The Healthcare Centre in Lutowiska, tel. (013) 461-00-22

Important information for tourists

The whole area of the commune lies in a border zone. If you are going to the mountains please remember to carry your identity papers because you may be requested to produce them to officers of the Border Guard. This also applies to drivers who drive in the Bieszczady Mountains, particularly in the communes Czarna and Lutowiska. The Mountain Voluntary Rescue Service (GOPR) requests tourists to necessarily leave information about planned routes and return times in their places of accommodation. The GOPR is a component of the emergency alerting centre whose telephone (112) is the same throughout Europe. When calling the GOPR centre in Sanok or Ustrzyki Górne you can notify the officers of a missing person or call for help or ask about the weather in the area you are going to visit, possible dangers, etc. Mobile telephone owners can call the GOPR station on Mount Połonina Wetlińska: 0-608 483 017.

Tourist Information

•The Commune Office, tel. +4813 4610013 extension 42 

e-mail: gci@lutowiska.pl

www.lutowiska.pl

•The Information-Educational Centre of the Bieszczady National Park

38-713 Lutowiska, tel. +4813 4610351

e-mail: oie@oie.bdpn.pl

http://www.bdpn.pl