Szlak im. M. Kajki

Ruins on the island are the most valuable monuments of architecture in Elk and are now owned by local entrepreneurs. In the years 1398-1406 Teutonic Knights built a small castle on the island of Lake Elk, it was connected to the mainland with drawbridges. It’s a historical place reminding about the fights between Polish army and Teutonic Knights. In 1410 Polish army under the command of Wladyslaw Jagiello attacked the headquarters of Teutonic Knights and destroyed the wooden structure, it was later rebuilt as a brick. In the following years, there has been a secularization of Prussia, and the castle became a residence of prince's official. In nineteenth century, castle was converted to be a prison up until 1970. There’s an interesting legend about a secret tunnel associated with the ruins. During the Tartars attack on the city, people run to hide in the castle. Tatars then burned it and destroyed the bridge spanning the river. People, however, during an attack hid in the tunnel and survived the attack. For years, Tatars were not able to figure out how they escaped with their lives.

The tower is an iconic building. It the past it served as a device supplying city with drinking water. In later years Edward Giermek instructed to modernize water supply system. Now, the tower is signed into Register of Monuments and holds the Museum of Water Drops with some interesting exhibits such as firewater pumps, bottles and a rich collection of old photographs. 

Elk river has a length of 114 km and its total area equal to 1524.5 km2. It is a right tributary of Biebrza river. It flows trough Szeski Mountain, Gołdap village, Kowale Oleckie, Świętajno, Stare Juchy, Elk and Prostki, further via grajewski and moniecki counties. The largest villages situated along the river are Straduny, New Village Elk, Prostki and Grajewo.

Elk lake - Elk Lake is a centre of Ełk city. Its total surfce area equals 385 ha and a maximum depth is 58.2 m.