Starczanowo, Poznań County

Starczanowo is a village in Gmina Murowana Goślina, Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is about 6 km north-west of the town of Murowana Goślina. First mention in written records: 1364. Population: c. 50.

About 1 km east of the village is the site of Radzim, formerly a fortress and castellany on an island (now a peninsula) in the Warta river (first mentioned 1254). This was an important centre in the Piast kingdom, lying on a route between Gniezno and western Pomerania. However the castellany ceased to exist in the second half of the fifteenth century, and the remaining village of Radzim declined in the 18th century as a result of the Swedish invasions, finally being wiped out by cholera in the early 19th century. No buildings survive, but achitectural work has been carried out on the site.

A little further north along the Warta is the Śnieżycowy Jar nature reserve, founded in 1975 and now covering 9 ha. It is most notable for the large numbers of spring snowflakes ("Leucoium vernum") which bloom in late February and early March. This is one of the few places where this flower is found in lowland Poland. It is thought to have been brought here by human intervention in the 19th century.

ources

* [http://www.murowana-goslina.pl/content/view/33/78/ Local authority website]
*"Murowana Goślina i okolice", N. Kulse, Z. Wojczak (local publication)
*Article on nature reserve (in Polish)