In the late autumn of 1914, the Russian attack toward Silesia omitting Kraków from the northwest broke down thanks to the desperate Austro-Hungarian counteroffensive on the Jurassic Krakowsko-Częstochowska Upland. It was possible only thanks to the transfer of the majority of the forces from the frontline between the Vistula River and the Beskid Mountains. The Russians decided to take advantage of that and their Third Army commanded by General Radko Dimitriev began marching to the west of the Dunajec River line toward the Raba River, and then to the southeast edges of Kraków. Soon the Russian divisions reached the Wieliczka – Dobczyce line. In December of 1914 during the series of fights in the Carpathian Foothills, called the Battles of Łapanów and Limanowa, the Austro-Hungarian army managed to stop and beat off the Russians.
In order to reach the battlefields between Łapanów and Limanowa from Kraków, head along Road 966 through Wieliczka and Gdów to Łapanów. You can also get there through Bochnia – the second centre of salt mining in Małopolska after Wieliczka – where you turn south onto Road 965 running through Nowy Wiśnicz to Muchówka.
The Vicinity of Limanowa and Nowy Sącz
Trail of the First War
