Odolion

Odolion is located 3km away from the famous Polish spa town of Ciechocinek and 5km from Aleksandrów Kujawski, an important national railway interchange. A railway runs directly between these two towns, stopping only at Odolion in between. The main purpose of the railway line was to take visitors from all parts of the country to Ciechocinek, a small principality, via Aleksandrów Kujawski. It is however a major means of transport for the people of Odolion, taking them to school, work, and for leisure.

During the German occupation of Poland (World War II), the German police massacred 266 Poles from Aleksandrów Kujawski, Ciechocinek and Wołuszewo in the Odolion forest throughout October 1939–January 1940 (see Nazi crimes against the Polish nation).[2]

The village began to be built up in the 1970s and is now growing rapidly. In the early 1990s, the parish of Odolion-Stawki was created - before, the villagers had to travel either to Aleksandrów or Ciechocinek to go to church and belonged to these respective parishes. A chapel was built in Miła street, and a large, modern church was completed in 2006, adjacent to the chapel to cope with the increasing population. There is a cemetery just outside the village, in the Stawki area.

Although Odolion is a relatively small settlement its number of amenities grows year on year, including a large parish church, supermarket, fire station, petrol filling station and playing fields. 2009 saw the opening of several new shops housed within large, purpose-built trading pavilions; these include a large supermarket, pharmacy and furniture store. Local businesses have expressed concern over the arrival of the supermarket chain Lewiatan which they believe will threaten their family run shops.

Currently there is no sewage system running through Odolion, although discussions about introduction of this amenity as well as piped gas are ongoing. The valley location of the village results in poor receipt of signals from electronic devices, resulting in poor satellite TV and mobile phone reception.

The majority of Odolion is on the forest side of the railway, with one street continuing approx. 500m further across the railway line and Lodz road. The streets on the forest side are arranged in a figure of 8 shape, fitting snugly into the horseshoe of the forest running closely around it. The current list of streets is as follows:

• Dworcowa
• Miła
• Młodzieżowa
• Zaułek
• Kwiatowa
• Krótka
• Piaskowa
• Okrężna
• Szosa Ciechocińska
• Relaksowa
• Lipowa
• Kolejowa

However, more houses are being built all the time - increasingly by wealthy city businessmen. Odolion's proximity to the spa town of Ciechocinek and historical city Torun are desirable factors.

Summers are roughly in line with Polish averages, with both sun and rain featuring. Temperatures have broken the 35C barrier on several occasions. Winters are bitter, with snow often several feet deep. The snow usually lasts from mid November through to February or March.