Kowary is a former industrial town, and now a tourist town on the border of the Karkonosze and Rudawy Janowickie. They are a good starting point for hiking and cycling tours in the area. The biggest attractions of Kowary are the miniature park and underground routes in the former uranium mines.
As early as in the 12th century, iron ore deposits were discovered in Kowary, which were exploited and used in local smithies and hammer shops. The mining of these ores continued until the second half of the 20th century. In the 1940s and 1950s, uranium was obtained from the local tunnels for the needs of the industry from the Soviet Union.
Memories of the industrial past of Kowary are the underground routes: Sztolnie Kowary and the Podgórze Mine. In both, you can learn about the history of uranium mining and see that the corridors still have increased, though not harmful to health, radiation.
The most important tourist attraction of Kowary is the Lower Silesia Monuments' Miniature Park. Models of the most famous buildings from the entire voivodeship are gathered here. Each of them is described, and the visit can be treated as a summary or introduction to getting to know the region.
In Kowary there is also a lot of historic, mainly 18th and 19th century buildings. The Town Hall in Kowary and tenement houses in the Market Square stand out among them. The attraction is the Executioner's House with an exhibition of torture tools and a classicist palace from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.
From the second half of the 19th century, Kowary was also a small health resort. In the spa park you can see the "Wysoka Łąka" Hospital from the beginning of the 20th century and the monumental Sanatorium Bukowiec.
