Among the oil fields of Podkarpackie, one can find many oil wells and pumpjacks* still running. However, crude oil is not everything. There are also many deposits of natural gas. The most interesting can be found in Iwonicz-Zdrój - one of the oldest Polish health resorts with a 430-year-long history.

The place is famous mainly for its resources of various types of mineral water, used for drinking, inhalation as well as baths, and in production of therapeutic salts. Because of that, many spa houses with a rich offer for patients were created here.

In a pleasant place in the centre of the forest, on the slopes of Mount Przedziwna, we can find the oldest and most famous healing spring in Iwonicz-Zdrój, once regarded as the most valuable. Here we can, in a way, sense the presence of fossil fuels, for which Podkarpackie is known. Because of the gas released from underground, the water emerges babbling and mumbling, and this is how the spring received its name “Bełkotka” (Mumbler). At the time it was discovered, there was so much gas flowing with water that people would set it on fire just for fun. The famous spring was commemorated by Wincenty Pol in one of his poems, in the following way:

In the shadow of these woods, something murmuring lightly,

Today, like years ago, “Bełkotka”, you greet us politely!

For how inspiration unfolds in our souls!

A pure flame from your currents flows!

Marvelling at the beauty of the holy wells,

We worship God in his wonders and spells!

Because pure fire and the murmur of the spring

Secretly coming from under the ground,

Alike to him are, as our hearts that sing,

Arise from flames and tears with no sound!

Wincenty Pol’s bust, created by Władysław Kandefer, an inhabitant of Iwonicz and outstanding sculptor, is located, along with the poem, at the mouth of the source.

The trail leading through Bełkotka spring to Mount Przedziwna is marked in white and blue, and it is about 2.2 kilometres long. The route runs from the centre of Iwonicz, next to the Spa House and the Concert Shell, then through the park and the picturesque gorges.

Worth visiting:

• historic centre of Iwonicz – Zdrój, with a preserved spatial layout and a complex of resort-style wooden buildings from the mid-1800s (Pump Room, Spa House, Bazar Villa with a clock tower, Old Baths)
• Park and palace complex in Iwonicz: manorial park from the 1700s, Winter Palace, orangery and Arian church
• Parish church in Iwonicz, with lush Baroque furnishings

*Pumpjack - a pump used to draw crude oil from a deposit with low pressure. It is the pumpjack that is in the logo of the Black Gold Discoverers trail.