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When travelling along the E77 road to
Kielce one can hardly notice its gradual ascending. Even the entering of the
Radom Upland past Białobrzegi does not bring any radical change in the flat
landscape. The first hills do not appear until the vicinity of Skarżysko
Kamienna - a sign that one has approached the Świetokrzyskie (Holy Cross)
Mountains, the oldest range in Poland apart from the Sudety. During its long
history the area was several times folded and inundated by sea. The major
folding, known as the Hercynian mountain building, took place 300 million
years ago in the Carboniferous Period. The mountains are built of hard
quartzite sandstones and limestones. Only the hardest core of the former
mountains has survived till the present, though it has been severely
levelled and split into separate ranges owing to glaciations and atmospheric
conditions. Now the Świetokrzyskie Mountain ranges extend mainly from the
northwest to the southeast, forming the broadest ridges in the middle. Their
mild slopes rise quite steeply at the top. The parallel mountain ridges are
divided by long wide valleys with small rivers, which now and then cut
across the ridges, forming beautiful deep gorges, and flow down to the north
or south. They divide the mountains into short ranges, thus diversifying the
landscape even more.
The highest range in the central part of the Świętokrzyskie
Mountains, the Łysogóry, built of quartzites, sandstones and Cambrian,
Ordovician and Silurian shale, reach a height of 612 m above sea level on
Łysica. The second highest peak, Łysa Góra (Bald Mountain, 595 m), once the
site of a pagan sanctuary, is now occupied by the Święty Krzyż (Holy Cross)
Monastery, which gave the name to the mountains and the present
administrative province. It was founded in the 12th century as a Benedictine
abbey, where the Holy Cross reliquary brought from Hungary was kept. The
Holy Cross Monastery, a goal of numerous pilgrimages, is run by the Oblate
Fathers of the Virgin Mary who work in missions all over the world. The
monastery museum contains many exotic items brought by the missionaries. The
imposing monastery complex consists of the late-Baroque and neoclassical
church with the splendid west fa'ade, the Gothic cloister surrounding a
mysterious garth with a well, and the early Baroque Oleśnicki Chapel. The
west wing of the monastery houses the museum of nature of the Świętokrzyski
National Park. Nearby stands the hardly impressive though well visible
140-metre high television tower. Ancient fir and beech forest around the
monastery belongs to the Świętokrzyski (Holy Cross) National Park,
established in 1950, now some 7600 ha in area and covering the ranges west
and south of the town of Bodzentyn along with several valleys. Most of its
area is covered with dense forest of fir, beech, pine, oak, larch, black
alder and some admixture of other broad-leaved trees. Unique forests grow on
Góra Chełmowa north of Nowa Słupia (mostly of larch) and on the slopes of
the Łysogóry (beech and fir), exceptionally nice in early spring, when the
forest floor is overgrown with pale purple toothwort flowers. The boulder
fields, or gołoborza, on the northern slope of the Łysogóry, are the
National Park's attraction. Only moss and lichen cover the big and small
quartzite blocks, while single mountain ash trees try to take root on the
edges of the hostile scree. The remain ing areas are rich in enchanting
flora in the forest, its clearings and meadows, including globe flower,
Turk's cap lily, Siberian iris, sundev. and orchids. Although the
Świętokrzyskie Mountains are of medium height, alpine plants grow here. The
fauna does not differ from that in other regions of central Europe.
The capital of the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Province, the
rapidly growing city of Kielce has about 215,000 inhabitants. The most inter
esting sites include the Baroque cathedral with the bas-relief of Out Lady
carved in a single piece of galena, and the former Cracow Bishops Palace
nearby. Its freshly renovated interiors house the rich National Museum
collections of painting, furniture and old arms. The museum affords a view
of the walled post-Bernardine monastery on the wooded Karczówka hill (340
m). Numerous quarries in Kielce and its environs supply such raw materials
as gypsum, limestone, sandstone or quartzite. The so-called Kielce marble,
quarried south of the town, is in great demand. Its polished slabs are used
for covering walls, floo or stairs and sculpting monuments. The pink
sandstone typical of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains is used as building and
fencing material in the whole country.
As early as the time of the Roman Empire iron ore deposits
were discovered at the northern edge of the mountains and the ore was
smelted in primitive furnaces. The museum at Nowa Słupia organizes annual
open-air shows of ancient iron smelting. Ore mining was continued in the
Middle Ages. Rulers minted coins of thus obtained silver and gold; iron
served for arms manufacture; vessels and ornaments were made of silver and
zinc. The first blast furnaces were built here in the 18th century. The
museum in the former rolling mill at Sielpia shows the history of mining and
metallurgy in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, which developed till the early
20th century.
Having seen the fir forests of the National Park and the
boulder fields, it is good to visit the sunny hills southwest of Kielce,
where one can find a lot of interesting sites within a small area. High upon
a limestone hill stand the imposing ruins of the royal castle at Chęciny.
The castle provides a panorama of the river valley and the surrounding
mountain ridges separated by long shallow valleys. Close by is the Raj
(Paradise) Cave with beautiful dripstones. A few kilometres further south,
the open-air museum at Tokarnia comprises a church, an inn, farm buildings,
a smithy and a windmill. Fans of literature may visit the Oblęgorek mansion
of the Polish Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz, author of Quo Vadis and
With Fire and Sword. The late-19th-century interiors resemble the time when
the writer lived and worked here. The park around has some ancient oaks,
larches, yews and exotic shrubs. At the neighbouring Strawczyn, a pink
sandstone rock commemorates the birthplace of another famous Polish writer,
Stefan Żeromski, who left the most elaborate descriptions of the
Świętokrzyskie Mountains and always committed himself in their protection.
The Kielce region has numerous monuments of architecture. Its
small towns have retained their medieval layout and atmosphere, provided we
can ignore the ugly billboards. Visiting Wąchock is a must. A monastery was
built here in 1179 by the Cistercians, who drained the boggy valley of the
Kamienna and cleared the surrounding area of forest. Holding the king's
permit to look for ores in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, they pioneered the
development of local mining. The late-Romanesque monastery architecture is a
superb historic relic, especially the chapter house. The small town of
Szydłów southeast of Kielce has a well-preserved Gothic town layout, 700
metres of defence walls, the imposing Cracow Gate and the Gothic Church of
St. Władysław. 12 km to the north, on a large artificial lake lies Raków,
once an important centre of the Polish Arian movement with an academy,
printing press, artisan workshops as well as fabric and paper manufactures.
The town started to decline after the closure of its printing shop by the
Polish parliament in 1638, followed by the order in 1658 that the Arians
convert to Catholicism or else are expelled from the country. Today it is a
tourist resort. South of Staszów near the village of Rytwiany is the
17th-century Camaldolese monastery, a hermitage surrounded by vast forests.
Further to the northeast it is worth to see Opatów, with the town gate, the
12th-century Romanesque collegiate church and underground chambers, and
Klimontów, beautifully situated in the valley of the Koprzywianka River.
Szydłowiec north of Kielce is another town with well-preserved medieval
layout. The Renaissance town hall with a fine tower stands in the market
square and nearby is the late-Gothic St Sigismund's Church. An old pillory
still stands on a square by the church. The Gothic-Renaissance castle houses
the museum of musical instruments.
In order to switch even more back in time one can go to the
direction of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. East of the town is the Krzemionki
archaeological reserve, where flint was extracted thousands of years ago
from chalk in 10-metre deep shafts, some of which are open to visitors.
Also, a Neolithic settlement has been reconstructed. The beauty of the
region is enhanced by small rivers and streams. A number of artificial lakes
have been built in the province to provide conditions for water sports and
recreation. Another region to spend summer on the water lies southeast of
Kielce, where the Nida River meanders among the hills, offering good
conditions for rafting or kayaking to Pińczów or as far as the place where
the crystal clear Nida waters join the Vistula River. Despite considerable
devastation of the natural environment by industry, there is still plenty of
pristine landscape in the region. A visit to the Świetokrzyskie Mountains
can give a lot of rest and relaxation. It is also an occasion to reflect on
the past, with its fine church architecture, precious works of art, or
ancient religious sites older than Christianity, and a chance to trace the
history of the Earth, e.g. near Chęciny, where rocks from all geological
periods can be found. Everyone will find something special on a trip to the
Świętokrzyskie Mountains, where nature reigns throughout the changing
seasons of the year. Opracowano na
podstawie książki:
"Świętokrzyskim Szlakiem" wyd. Voyager
Tekst angielski: Elżbieta Kowalewska |
