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The road east from Nowy Targ to Szczawnica is one of the most attractive in the country, following the broad valley of the Dunajec through the Spisz , a backwoods region whose villages are renowned for their wooden houses, churches and folk art. Annexed by Poland from the newly created Czechoslovak state in 1920, for centuries it was part of the semi-autonomous province of Spis (Slovak)/Spisz (Polish)/Zips (German) that formed part of the Hungarian kingdom. The old aura of a quiet rural backwater remains, the region's Slovak minority bearing testimony to its historic borderland position. Buses cover the route four or five times a day. DEBNO , 14km from Nowy Targ, boasts one of the best-known wooden churches in the country, a shingled, steep-roofed larch building, put together without using nails and surrounded by a charming wicket fence, with a profile vaguely reminiscent of a snail. Inside, the full length of walls and ceiling is covered with exuberant, brilliantly preserved fifteenth-century polychromy and woodcarving . The subjects are an enchanting mix of folk, national and religious motifs, including some fine hunting scenes and curiously Islamic-looking geometric patterns. In the centre of the building, fragments survive of the original rood screen, supporting a tree-like cross, while the original fifteenth-century altarpiece triptych features an unusually militant-looking St Catherine. In addition, there's a fine carved statue of St Nicholas, a medieval wooden tabernacle and some banners reputedly left by Jan Sobieski on his return from defeating the Turks in Vienna in 1683. The church is usually open during daylight hours; if not, local enquiries may reveal the whereabouts of the priest (who lives just over the road), who will probably open things up. For an overnight stay, there's a youth hostel (July-Aug) in the village. Immediately east of Debno lies the Dunajec reservoir , a controversial hydroelectric project which was opposed by many environmentalists before the valley - and a couple of its villages - were finally subsumed by water in 1997. The reservoir's dam saved much of the downriver settlements from floods later the same year, significantly decreasing the project's unpopularity with the locals. A minor road branches off to follow the southern banks of the river before arriving at Niedzica, although most traffic sticks to the high ground north of the water, arriving after 12km at the turn-off to CZORSZTYN . Lying 2km south of the main road, this small village is overlooked by a memorable, if very ruined, castle . From its heights you get sweeping views over the valley and to the castle of Niedzica across the mouth of the Dunajec Gorge.
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