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OUR
MUNICIPALITY
Sokolka is situated in
the eastern part of Podlasie Vojevodship, on the edge of Knyszyn
Primeval Forest, by the international road and railway route
Warsaw-Bialystok-Grodno and running farther towards Minsk, Vilnius, Riga, St. Petersburg and Moscow. The
municipality borders on Belarus and is situated on the territory
of a future European Union’s east boundary. Sokolka
municipality covers the area of 314 km2. It is inhabited by 28
thousand of people, with 20 thousand living in the town and 8
thousand in the country (90 villages).
The
town rights were conferred by King
Sigmund
III Waza in
1609. Sokolka land is the region where many monuments of folk
buildings and rural wooden architecture were preserved. From
Sokolka placing times in
the 16th century
architectural arrangement of the town center with the Old
Town Square and adjoining streets and houses which
keep the
times of Antoni Tyzenhauz in mind were preserved . It is worth
paying attention to the neoclassical St. Antoni’s Catholic
Church dated from 1848 and St. Alexander Newski’s Orthodox
Church from 1830
– with the beautiful set of icons and the painting
“The Last Supper”. Sokolka is famous for raising of
cold-blooded horses of Sokolka breed, Monday’s fairs,
Sokolka’s Orients and the Tartar route
running through interesting monuments of the past located
in neighboring places (the oldest in Poland the wooden mosques
in Bohoniki and Kruszyniany). Museum of Sokolka Land invites to
visiting the historic section, the folk art, the Tartar’s
tradition and the remembrance room of Lewoniewski aviators.
 
Photo:
St.
Antoni’s Catholic Church, A.
Newski’s Orthodox Church,
cold-blooded horses of Sokolka breed, The
mosque
in Bohoniki, The
museum of Sokolka Land,
The local reservoir.
The
beautiful landscape of glacial hills reaching 230 meters above
sea level which is the area of the protected landscape of The
Sokolka Hills and
The Landscape Park in the valley of Sokolda river encourage
everyone to go in for hiking, cycling, horsing and skiing. The
attraction in the summer time is the rest at the local reservoir.
The bicycle trail from Augustow to Bialowieza runs through the
town. Cyclists can
find here many
other beautiful paths.
THE
MUNICIPALITY OPENED FOR INVESTMENTS
Sokolka location in the place of the
international railway and road route (road no 19) from Warsaw
through the border checkpoint Kuznica Bialostocka
in Grodno direction
and farther to the east has considerable significance for
investors. The importance of that fact will undoubtedly grow
after having handed over towards the end of the year the border
terminal in Kuznica Bialostocka which will be the most modern
one in Poland.
Already
now many companies run a business in the area of the town on the
basis of international barter with Russia and
Belarus.
There are further possibilities of development, the municipality
administers the free grounds situated by the railway and the
national road no 19 (or in the vicinity of them) for erecting
industrial and storing
buildings as well as buildings for servicing of trade and tourism. The
grounds are equipped with necessary installations and are
waiting for new investors. The wide tracks leaded up to Sokolka
with currently modernized network of unloading platforms offer
additional opportunities. There are also grounds and conditions
for building of railway sidings and terminals nearby the
European and Russian tracks.
  
Photo:
The
Indoor Swimming-Pool, The Tax Office, The County Headquarters of
The Police, The County Headquarters of The Fire Brigade, The
Polish Telecommunications SA.
We
are warmly inviting all investors to cooperation.
The
local authorities would have the pleasure of assisting with
informing of the municipality’s and region’s
peculiarity. They could show investment possibilities and
integrate into the community. While investing one should think
about Sokolka where energy and positive activities of its
inhabitants help in doing a good business.
Just now it is worth being interested in opportunities of
locating of the company, a branch or a department here. Maybe it
is the last chance so it is worth taking advantage of it. Lower
tax rates by 25 %
from maximum ones for
properties on the grounds of the whole Sokolka municipality
are additional encouragement.
The
current investment offer and the information about Sokolka
properties are accessible on the website
of The Town Office in Sokolka www.sokolka.pl.
YOU ARE WELCOME!
SIGHTS
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The
trail of
the folk handcraft.
The
rich and living not so long ago traditions of the regional
Bialystok folk art are cultivated nowadays just by few
worth visiting handcraft workshops. The trail of
traditional folk handcraft runs through pottery workshops
and the forge
in Czarna Wies Koscielna , the wooden spoons workshop in
Zamczysk, the two-warp weaving workshop in Janow and in
nearby villages, Piotr Szałkowski’s (the folk
sculptor) workshop (Sokolka, 22 Mickiewicza Str.,
telephone no. 7115332).One can see the private collection
of his sculptures and the exhibition of the folk art in the room of The Folk
Artists Association. |
The
Regional Chamber in Janowszczyzna
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The
regional Chamber fulfils the educational and cultural function.
It is often visited by school children
within the confines of history classes. The Museum Hall
which abounds with many keepsakes from the past is the perfect
place for realization of the regional educational track The
founder of the chamber Jan Ancypo
(telephone no 7111522) eagerly tells about the customs
and ceremonies of the macro region. He put as his point of the
honor the rescue
from falling into oblivion and passing the time
the cultural legacy of the grandfathers and
great-grandfathers. Exhibits were collected in the nearby
villages; Moczalnia, Slojniki and Podkamionka.
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We can see here
the old wooden bed made by the father of J. Ancypo, 100-years
old trunk of a
great-grandmother, the loom, old vessels, pots, the sieve, the
rolls for winding wool, paintings, tapestries, net curtains and
plenty of other things being useful for great-grandfathers. The
chamber is the place where everyone can meet and feel the old
village’s atmosphere.
www.sokolka.pl/janowszczyzna.htm
The
Tartar Trail
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The Tartar Trail which runs through Bohoniki
– 7 km away from Sokolka
is the unique tourist attraction. There is the 19th
century mosque here and Muslim’s cemetery “mizar”.
The Tartar trail allows to observe the traces of a cultural and
ethnic mosaic of eastern
lands of the former Rzeczypospolita. Bohoniki is the former
Tartar’s settlement founded in 1679 by the King Jan III
Sobieski in an exchange for overdue soldiers’ pay for the
captain of the Tartar regiment – Olejowski and his
soldiers. After having settled here Tartars erected the mosque
(at present there is another mosque dated from the 19th
century in place of it) and founded the Muslim’s cemetery.
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The
practical hints ...
The
Tartar Trail” The Big” is 54 kilometers long. It
runs from Sokolka to Kruszyniany through, Kamionka Stara,
Wierzchlesie, Talkowszczyzna, Swidzialowka Nowa and Nietupa.The
trail can be covered in one day. The remains of the first
Tartars settled in that area at the instance of the indebted
king can be found in the regional
museum
in Sokolka (Sokolka Community Center, 1 Grodzienska Str.,
telephone no 7112435). The man called by The Muslims
”imam” arrives at Bohoniki’s mosque
every first Friday of the month to say mass. One of Tartar women
takes care of the mosque. While showing tourists round the
temple she is wearing the dress which
Muslim women usually puts on for the prayer. One has to
be careful! While entering the mosque shoes have to be taken off.
Moreover one has to wear appropriate clothing: with covered arms
and legs to knees - it also concerns men. One can stay for the
night (telephone no 711 9171) in the house of the mosque career
or in Sokolka. In Bohoniki there is no shop so one has to
provide oneself with sandwiches and drinks. To reach Bohoniki
one can go by train from Bialystok to Kundzin (Kuznica
Bialostocka direction) and from there by bike or on foot in
direction of Orlowicze. Alternatively – get off the train
in Sokolka and take a bus to Kuznica via Malawicze direction.
Somewhere
to spend the night
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Wayside
Inn- 2 Mickiewicza Str., telephone no. 7112793
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Holiday
Resort at the reservoir, 20 Wodna Str., telephone no.
7112567
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Agrotourists
farm- the owner - E. Wiśniewski, the village - Kuryły 3,
telephone no.7112049, www.psa.org.pl
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THE
TOWN OFFICE IN SOKOLKA
16-100
Sokolka
1
Plac Kościuszki Str.
Telephone
exchange: +48
(85)
7110900
fax
(85) 7110911
e-mail:
sokolka@sokolka.pl
www.sokolka.pl
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