Sejny
Region, with its landscape full of hills, fields, forests, numerous
rivers and lakes, not heavily populated, is hardly known to
tourists. The county seat is Sejny, a little borderland town
through which the road to Ogrodniki border crossing with Lithuania
runs.  The
town got its name after the Sejna River (at present the Marycha
River). It was founded in 1602 by the owner of the neighbouring
lands, Jerzy Grodziński. As he had no heir, a few years later
he bequeathed his property to the Dominicans from Vilnius. They
eagerly began to manage their new possessions: the town, granges,
a few villages and large stretches of forests. In 1610 they
set about building a brick monastery with a splendid church.
Nowadays, it is the most valuable monument of sacral architecture
in Suwałki Region. Sejny had been developing steadily till the
Swedish invasion. Later it declined to finally revive in the
first half of the 18th century, thanks to economical, educational
and charitable work of the Dominicans. When in 1795 Sejny Region
came under Prussian rule, monastic possessions were confiscated
and the monks themselves removed from Sejny. However, the town
was constantly developing. It had been the county seat and till
1925- the capital of the Augustów diocese.  The
pride of the town was its grammar schools which have educated
a lot of eminent citizens. After 1815, Sejny Region constituted
part of the Kingdom of Poland. The Muscovite authorities destroyed
Sejny education. As the town was no longer situated within a
close distance from the main road or railway, it was declining.
Yet, in the middle of the 19th century Sejny was an important
center of Lithuanian national revival. A lot of wise Lithuanians
used to live here, with bishop Antoni Baranowski at the head.
Even today quite a few Lithuanians live in Sejny. Sejny preserved
its historical spatial arrangement with a long marketplace,
where next to old buildings there are a few monuments commemorating
important events in the town's history.
In
Sejny there are 6000 inhabitants, a large part of whom are Lithuanians.
This small town is situated on a transit route from Poland to Lithuania,
12 km from the Ogrodniki border crossing. It is a good place for
these tourists who want to explore Sejny Region. Through the town
there runs the marked red tourist trail with the most interesting
parts of Sejny Region. The blue trail leading to Lake Wigry also
begins here.
Bus service operates among Sejny and all bigger towns of this subregion.
Important
addresses and telephone numbers
Passport
Office, 1 Maja 1 516 20 60
Coach station 516 21 78
The Republic of Lithuania Consulate, 22 Lipca 9 516 22 73
Post office, J. Piłsudskiego 24 516 20 24
Ambulance service, E. Rittera 2 999
Police station, 1 Maja 17 516 20 63
Border Guard, Ogrodniki 516 22 62
Hospital, E. Rittera 2 516 21 26
Customs Office, Ogrodniki (the border crossing) 516 24 76
Town Council, J. Piłsudskiego 25 516 20 73
Accommodation and catering facilities
Hotel
"Skarpa", J. Piłsudskiego 13, (restaurant, gym, car park) 516 20
65
Hotel "Gospoda", at Ogrodniki border crossing (accommodation, bar)
517 20 65
Hotel in Dom Litewski, 22 Lipca 9 516 29 08 Inn
"Drewutnia", Hołny Majera 517 20 86
Café "Pod Gruszą", A. Zawadzkiego 10 516 24 27
"Club Nora III" - café, J. Piłsudskiego 28 516 24 79
Education and Training Center of Białystok Institute of Technology,
Hołny Mejera, (watering place, campsite, water equipment rental)
516 20 40
School Youth Hostel, Grammar School, Łąkowa 1, (open only during
holidays) 516 21 67
Tourist
information
The
Society For Sejny and Sejny Region Development "Ziemia Sejneńska",
Wojska Polskiego 60 B, (room reservation, accommodation, organizing
trips), tel./fax 516 34 00
SIRT, Suwałki, T. Kościuszki 45, tel./fax 566 54 94
CULTURE
The Lithuanian House, 22 Lipca 9 516 29 08
The Lithuanian Society And Culture Association, 22 Lipca 9 516 21
25
Municipal Center of Culture, 1 Maja 17 516 22 00 Town-Commune Public
Library, J. Piłsudskiego 7 516 03 21
The Center "Pogranicze" - "arts - cultures - nations", J. Piłsudskiego
28 516 27 65
The Society of Lithuanians in Poland, 22 Lipca 9 516 21 25
SERVICES
Bank PKO, A. Zawadzkiego 19, (also other banks and numerous money
exchange offices) 516 25 72
Filling stations:
- S. Konarskiego 18 516 21 23
- J. Marchlewskiego 15, (open 24 hrs., bar) 516 25 63
Car service stations:
- Szkolna 7,(24 hrs.) 516 23 47
- A. Głowackiego 2 516 27 77
- A. Mickiewicza 12 516 23 24 Taxi:
- Parkowa 516 21 78
Hiking
and biking trails
1.
Red trail (partly across Sejny Region):Giby - Berżniki -
Sejny - Smolany - Puńsk - Becejły (73 km).
2. Blue trail: Sejny - Giby - Karolin - Maćkowa Ruda - Mikołajów
(34,9 km).
3. Black trail: Aleksiejówka (Giby hamlet) - Zelwa (12 km).
4. Black trail: from the red trail in Sztabinki through Krasnogruda,
Dusznica to the border crossing in Ogrodniki (9,4 km).
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