Wokół Jeziora Selmęt Wielki

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. 

The main reason for constructing the railway was an economic development of Mazury region. Works lasted from 1905-1915. At the time, the governor of Elk was Carl Suermondt, who worked extensively on economic revitalization of the region. Unfortunately, both world wars and russian military attacks devastated the venture. It took a long time to rebuild and restore its former efficiency. Currently, the narrow gauge railway is an extremely interesting tourist attraction, which takes passengers on interesting and informative trip.

It is a very popular tourist destination located in Elk Narrow Gauge Railway Museum. Visitors can gain some knowledge about the little-known profession of beekeeper. The owner, Mr. Lucjan Rozycki, has collected a lot of various exhibits, tools and supplies needed to do the job of beekeeper. Within the museum there is an interesting exhibition of various hives. Some carved in tree trunks, others nicely decorated.

City Promenade is a place of cultural life in Elk. It runs around the Elk Lake. For many years after world war II, the place was neglected. It’s changed however, since new government election in 1989. New government invested a lot in touristic development of the city. Currently, there are some nice walking and cycling paths around the lake, there’s also a fountain of an impressive 15 meters height. One can enjoy the walk among green trees, stylish benches and lanterns. Regularly in the summer,  people gather together to take part in events organized in a series of "Meet on the Promenade", "Picnic Ulański" or "Cinema Under the Stars".

Selmet Great - It is a large lake with a total area of 1262 hectares. It's surrounded by several villages: Frosts, Sordachy, Makosieje, Giże, Koziki, Łoje, Laski Duże, Sędki, Buczki and Szeliga. On the lake, there are two islands with a total area of 3.3 hectares. Area around include farmland, pastures and meadows but the other part of shoreline is covered by forests and settlements. Fish that you can find here: pike, perch, eel, perch, catfish, carp, tench, roach, bream, ide, crucian carp.

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.