For several hundred years, the Markuszów markets and fairs attracted merchants and customers not only from the vicinity and the region, but also from abroad. The then owner of Markuszów, John Sobieski (the later King of Poland) confirmed the town’s privilege of organizing six markets lasting three days in 1667. The centuries-long tradition of markets has prevailed until the present day; nowadays, the market is held every Monday.

While in Markuszów, it is worth participating in the “Markuszów of King Sobieski” Discoverers’ Expedition. This is one of the first games, called after the English term – the Quests, in the Lublin Region, which in an interesting way presents many mysteries of this small town boasting an exceptionally rich history. The Quest questionnaire can be downloaded from the website www.markuszow.pl or can be obtained in the County Culture House (ul. Marka Sobieskiego 1). There, you can also receive a stamp in the passport to the Bicycle Land at the Amber Trail Greenways.

The Markuszów necropolis features the tombstone of Jan Pocek made by distinguished artist Marian Świst. The image of the poet with an open book featuring his name, dates of birth and death, sculpted in a several-hundred-year-old oak, suitably commemorates the memory and the site of eternal rest of the outstanding poet of Kaleń. The cemetery also features the graves and a monument commemorating the partisans who fought against the Nazi Germans during the last war. It is worth knowing that a very well-organized, strong underground resistance movement operated in the area of Markuszów County.

An interesting tombstone is located south of the partisans’ monument – it is the tombstone of Wadi Gluzman, the last Jew of Markuszów who managed to survive the Holocaust. Closely bound with the local population, he remained in Markuszów after the war and worked as a carpenter. Because he was a prewar communist, his funeral was a significant event in the times of the People’s Republic of Poland. The communist authorities erected his tombstone; however, a careful reader will find a mistake on the tombstone plaque.

The line of Russian trenches stretched from the village of Olempin, visible in the distance on the left, to the Borek Forest (on the right). During the fights held in the early August of 1914, the buildings of Olempin were burnt down. Also Markuszów, fired at by the Russian artillery, burnt down almost completely. The soldiers killed during the fights were buried in the cemetery located in Olesin at the road from Lublin to Puławy. The grave contains the ashes of 230 Nazi German soldiers.

The former sand and sandy gravel pits, re-cultivated and returned to nature, are very interesting in terms of its natural assets. Several years after the trees were planted, new specifically ecological niches formed on the site with many interesting specimens of fauna and flora. The vicinity also features operating sand mines and water reservoirs filling in the former pits. All this creates a unique landscape.

This place is called Kamienna Górka [A Stone Mount]. During a nature cataloguing of the area, several rare plant species were discovered here, together with large numbers of the sand martin nests, as sand martins had their nesting colony on the edges of the mine. Unfortunately, the steep escarpments had to be shoved aside for safety reasons and the sand martins moved to another location.

The red connecting trail that is 7.09 km long will take you through the village of Kłoda to Kurów and to the green trail running from Klementowice to Strzyżewice. You are 4 km away from Rejowiec Lake and 8.35 km away from the end of the blue trail.

The marshy meadows retained the tracts of alder forests and riparian alder forests; the forest of highest value is located west of the village of Bobowiska. It boasts many rare plant species. Beneath the tree stand of black alder, you can find the undergrowth of blackcurrants and redcurrants, and the multi-varietal ground cover featuring the Marsh Ferns, Water Parsnips, Milk Parsleys, Lesser Pond Sedges and Elongated Sedges, Yellow Irises, Bittersweet Nightshades and Marsh Marigolds, less often – Marsh Callas and Water Violets. In fact, the entire area surrounding Bobowiska and Wólka Kątna boasts natural unpolluted forests, access to pure water, and excellent sites for mushroom pickers, anglers, hunters, bicycle ride lovers and enthusiasts of hiking amidst silence and tranquillity.

The vicinity of Duży Ług Lake features small tracts of fresh pine forest. The undergrowth boasts junipers and European mountain ashes, while the ground cover includes the Blue Whortleberries, Sheep’s Fescues and Rough Small Reeds, as well as the grass with the Grey hair-grass, Morison’s Spurreys, Goldmoss Stonecrops, Iceland Mosses and Cup Lichens. The fields located south of Duży Ług Lake are a habitat to the Northern Wheatears and Tawny Pipits.

The marshy meadows boast rare non-migratory butterflies, strongly associated with the given territory. Their presence testifies the durability and invariability of biotope. The local lake is the habitat of such species as the Violet Coppers, Scarce Large Blues, Dusky Large Blues and pericallia matronula. The nearby forests also feature rare butterfly species, including the Lesser Purple Emperors, Purple Emperors and Caloptilia suberinella (the only habitat in Poland).

The lake and its vicinity are an ideal habitat for many species of waterfowl, wetland birds, and birds of prey, among others. Among the species living here are the Corn Crakes, Thrush Nightingales, Marsh Warblers, Red-backed Shrikes, Black-tailed Godwits, Common Redshanks, Common Rosefinches, Northern Lapwings, Eurasian Coots, Mallards, Grebes, Common Moorhens, Tufted Ducks, Common Pochards, Eurasian Teals, and White Storks. The direct vicinity of the lake boasts the Common Buzzards, Buntings, Woodlarks, Wood Warblers, Eurasian Blackcaps, Tree Pipits, Eurasian Jays, Common Blackbirds and Song Thrushes.

Rejowiec Lake is an ecological site; therefore, an information board located at the shoreline offers instruction on how to behave in this place. A sheltered area belonging to the “Derby” Hunting Club No. 57 in Lublin, which manages the lake, is located near the shoreline. The Lodge of the Hunting Club is located on the left, with an adjacent rock featuring a memorial plaque, erected to commemorate an anniversary of the club establishment. The lake’s region boasts the Little Bitterns, Eurasian Bitterns and beavers, and if you are lucky, you may be able to spot a moose.

The lake’s bottom is mostly covered with mud, but from the side of your current location the bottom is sandy. The water’s specific colour comes from tannins contained in the leaves, which fall into the water from the trees growing at Rejowiec Lake’s shorelines.

According to the signposts, you are 10 km away from Borków, if you turn right and follow the black trail around Garbów, and 15 km away from the village of Leśce. You can also turn left and following the black trail, reach the village of Meszno (at 4.7 km). Heading left, and then continuing straight on all the time following the markers of the yellow connecting trail (which is 7.31 km long), you will reach the blue trail around Kamionka County (at 3 km). From there you can get directly to the gate of the Zamoyski Museum in Kozłówka. The total length of the route is about 15 km.