Przełom Dunajca - Spływ Dunajcem

I encourage you to subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JacekPawowic... If you'd like to buy me a virtual coffee and appreciate my work, click the link: https://buycoffee.to/jacekpawlowicz THANK YOU so much! The Dunajec is a wide, beautiful river that flows from the Tatra Mountains. Near Szczawnica, it breaks through the Pieniny Mountains, offering incredible views of the river surrounded by high, steep mountain slopes. The charm of crossing this section of the Dunajec was appreciated as early as the 19th century and continues to this day. The river at the gorge is treacherous – characterized by numerous twists, eddies, rapids, and treacherous terrain. The skill of safely crossing this area is known only to local highlanders, thanks to knowledge passed down from generation to generation. They are called raftsmen, or river rafting specialists. Records of raftsmen working on the Dunajec River can be found in 16th-century sources, but it wasn't until the 19th century that they truly gained fame. Initially, they transported timber harvested from the surrounding forests and transported to Nowy Targ or Harklowa. The development of the Szczawnica health resort began the long history of a unique tourist attraction – rafting down the Dunajec Gorge. In the 19th century, there were two classic routes for a comprehensive tour of the Pieniny Mountains. The first involved a horse-drawn carriage ride, conquering the summit of Trzy Korony, descending the Szopczański Gorge to Sromowce Niżne, and then floating down to Szczawnica by boat. The second, more time-consuming route led through the ruins of Czorsztyn Castle, then Niedzica Castle, and then on by horse-drawn carriage to Czerwony Klasztor (Red Monastery) and nearby Śmierdzonka, a spa and bathing facility where lunch was served and boat rides took us to Szczawnica. Rafting down the Dunajec Gorge, one of the biggest attractions not only in Sromowce Niżne but also in the entire region, and perhaps even the country, originated in the early 19th century thanks to the Hungarian owners of Niedzica Castle. This attraction was later popularized by Józef Szalay, owner of the Szczawnica spas. From the 1840s to the present day, it has been a staple of Pieniny Mountains itineraries.