Holowczyce: Districts and Local History

Stare Hołowczyce forms the northern part of Hołowczyce. To get your bearings, it is worth looking at two scales at once: the structure of the entire linear village and the local names for individual places.

Districts and settlement form

The other parts are called Nowe Hołowczyce and Hołowczyce-Kolonia. Overall, Hołowczyce is a linear village with five kilometres of continuous development. In the built-up area of Stare Hołowczyce, there are pavements along Voivodeship Road 811. At the edge of the village, one place is called “Karczma.”

The five-kilometre figure describes Hołowczyce as a whole; the pavements, by contrast, refer to the built-up area of Stare Hołowczyce. This distinction is useful for finding your way: the settlement form provides the broader scale, while the pavements concern a specific stretch of road.

History of Hołowczyce

Around 1580, Hołowczyce was listed in the tax register under the historical name “Olonczyce.” In the 19th century, its inhabitants were predominantly farmers of Ruthenian and Masovian origin who were Greek Catholic. The span of time between these accounts offers a glimpse into different chapters: the early form of the name, and the social and religious composition in the 19th century.

In 1905, residents of Hołowczyce went in procession to the church in Sarnaki to adopt the Roman Catholic faith. During the occupation, Jan and Jadwiga Grobicki gave refuge to a Jewish boy. He survived the war as a farmhand on their farm. In 1989, Jan and Jadwiga received a medal and the title “Righteous Among the Nations” for this.

A small wooden manor house remained in Hołowczyce until the post-war years.

Mogiłki and routes in the surrounding region

In Hołowczyce, on the road known as Klepaczówka, level with Stanisław Mysłowski’s farm, there is a place called “Mogiłki.” The ground there occasionally reveals bones. At a second place called “Mogiłki,” people used to go sledding and skiing because of the steep slope. Here, the identical names refer to different features: a named place where bones occasionally come to light, and the former use of the slope.

A municipal report from 2022 mentions more than 10 km of designated and marked cycling routes in the forest complex of Hołowczyce and Zabuże, as well as shelters for resting that have been installed there. Before setting out on a bike ride, check the current route markings and the condition of the shelters.

The road leading from Hołowczyce to the Zabuże estate still exists and is known in local tradition as Korolówka. In the wider travel destination of Masovia, the Nadbużański Landscape Park extends across 21 municipalities; twelve of them are in the Masovian Voivodeship, and Korczew is partly included.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Łosice, Bolesty, Lipno, Horoszki Małe, Stare Mierzwice, Borsuki, Zabuże, Sarnaki

For the main travel overview: Łosice.