Case file · Sacred site
Łysa Góra, from pagan temple to witches' mountain
The chronicler Jan Długosz wrote in the 15th century that the Holy Cross monastery on Łysiec (Łysa Góra) stood where a pagan temple to the gods Lada, Boda and Leli had been.
1470 CE · 50.89, 20.90 · status: legend
The account
A stone rampart over a kilometre long rings the summit and is usually read as a pagan cult enclosure. In later Polish folklore Łysa Góra became the place where witches flew on broomsticks for their sabbaths, and the Benedictine abbey kept relics of the True Cross that drew pilgrims.
The sceptical view
Długosz's gods are probably his own learned constructions; the rampart's date and purpose are debated.