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Travel through time in Świętokrzyskie
The Świętokrzyskie region takes you for a journey through centuries, starting in local geological sites with preserved fossils and traces of prehistoric reptiles in Zachełmie and Bałtów), with pre-Roman cultures inArcheological Museum in Krzemionki or during popular cultural events e.g. the Iron Roots in Starachowice and the Bloomeries in Nowa Słupia and ending at European Rover Challenge space-robotics competitions.
Many popular places have entwined ancient history and religion by becoming historic sanctuaries. The ancient Wiślica – the capital of the Slavic tribe – Vistulians, today is known mainly for its precious Collegiate Basilica, dating back to early Middle Ages. Similarly, the beautiful Holly Cross Monastery in the highest part of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, from which the name of the region was taken, used to be a place of pagan cult.
The land was a place of many historical events, which played a key role for the later Polish state. In 1347 King Casimir the Great announced the first Polish book of Laws in Wiślica. The first “sejmik” – a meeting of the major representatives of Polish regions took place in the monumental castle in historic town of Chęciny, near Kielce in 1331. He also contributed to the establishment of the most impressive residences i.a. in the charming cities of Sandomierz, Szydłów and Stopnica.
Świętokrzyskie played also a part in the development of the Polish language. Mikołaj Rej – the 16th C. father of Polish literature lived in a manor in Nagłowice. In the 17th C. the Arian Brothers in Raków for the first time in history taught Polish as an official language and printed it in a book form.
Rich deposits of building stone and metals enabled the northern part of the region to become a center of metallurgy and establishing numerous stone quarries. The first blast furnace for producing steel was erected in Samsonów, near Kielce in 1598. The development of industrial plants was developed especially in the 18th C. by the father of Polish Enlightenment – Stanislaw Staszic. Between the World Wars the industrial boom from the 19th C. helped to endure the economic crisis, while Skarżysko-Kamienna and Starachowice became renowned industrial centers.
Unfortunately, the lands were not spared from the turbulences of war. The Tatar invasion and the later Swedish Deluge devastated many residences, churches, towns and villages and slaughtered the people of Świętokrzyskie. In the 18th and 19th century the region was a place of great patriotic uprisings during the period of Prussian, Russian and Austrian annexations. Many battles of the Kosciuszko Insurrection, November Uprising and the later January Uprising took place here.
The outbreak of WWII imprinted greatly in the region’s history as it became the arena of numerous skirmishes of Polish partisans with Nazi troops. The legendary Polish underground military leaders like mjr Henryk Dobrzański „Hubal” and mjr Jan Piwnik „Ponury” were mainly active in this area and the partisans often used the weaponry produced in the area of Skarżysko- Kamienna.
Like in other Polish regions, the Jews constituted a great part of the population in most of the towns, building the economy and enriching the culture. The traces of the Jewish presence can be observable in the many towns’ architecture and have been commemorated e.g. in the Jewish Museum and Education Centre in Chmielnik.
