Panoramic View of Mt. Sleza

Provided by: Monika Okońska
Summary author: Monika Okońska

The photo above featuring Mt Sleza (2,356 ft or 718 m) dominates the open plain of Lower Silesia near Wroclaw, Poland. Close by is a ring of smaller hills that makes up a mountain group known as the Sleza Massif. Commonly believed to be an extinct volcano, Mt. Sleza was once a part of the Sudetans Range. Some 10-15 million years ago, during the Alpine folding events, this continuity was broken, and Mt Sleza was left isolated, off amid the plains. Sleza is composed of granite, quartzite, orthoclase, diorite, and biotite.

Mt Sleza has been considered a mythical and holy site for as long as this land has been inhabited, at least 6,000 years ago. On its slopes, mysterious statues and stone walls have been discovered -- the oldest traces of an ancient cult within Proto-Slavonic or Proto-Germanic boundaries. A Silesian legend tells about a flowering fern, which during the St. John's night bursts into bloom somewhere on the flanks of Mt. Sleza. It brings luck and wealth but only to someone fortunate to find it! Photo taken on January 22, 2008.