3. • Kielce is a city in southern Poland and the
capital of the Świętokrzyskie
Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468
inhabitant. The city is in the middle of
the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy
Cross Mountains), on the banks of the
Silnica River, in the northern part of the
historical Polish province of Lesser
Poland.
• Kielce has a history back over 900 years,
and the exact date that it was founded
remains unknown. Kielce was once an
important centre of limestone mining,
and the vicinity is famous for its natural
resources like copper, lead, and iron,
which, over the centuries, were exploited
on a large scale.
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4. Etymology
• According to a local legend, Mieszko II Lambert, son
of Boleslaus I of Poland,during hunting, stopped to rest and
refresh and fall asleep. During his sleep, he had a dream he
was attacked by a band of brigands in a forest. In the dream he
saw a vision of Saint Adalbert who drew a winding line which
turned into a stream. When Mieszko woke up, he found the
Silnica River whose waters helped him regain strength. He also
discovered white tusks of an animal, perhaps wild boar.
Mieszko announced he would build a town and a church to St.
Adalbert at that site. According to this legend, the town's name
Kielce commemorates the mysterious tusks (kieł in Polish).
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5. Various other legends exist to explain the name's origin. One
states that the town was named after its founder who belonged to
the noble family of Kiełcz, while another claims that it stems from
the Celts who may have lived in the area in previous centuries.
Other theories connect the town's name to occupational names
relating to mud huts, iron tips for arrows and spears, or the
production of tar
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6. Climate
• Kielce is one of the relatively cooler
cities in Poland. It experiences four
distinct seasons and has a warm
summer subtype humid continental
climate (Dfb), typical of this part of
Europe. It has cool, cloudy winters
with almost daily light snowfall and
generally moderate temperatures
within a few degrees of the freezing
point, and moderately warm and
sunny summers, with frequent but
brief hot spells and abundant rainfall
falling mostly during numerous and
occasionally severe thunderstorms.
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7. Surrounded by the Holy Cross
Mountains, however, the summer
night time temperatures are
somewhat cooler and the
thunderstorms somewhat more
frequent and severe than in
surrounding areas of Poland.
• Weather forecast:
https://pogoda.interia.pl/prognoza-
dlugoterminowa-kielce,cId,13378
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8. Świętokrzyski
National Park
• Świętokrzyski National
Park (Polish: Świętokrzyski Park
Narodowy) is a National
Park in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship in
central Poland. It covers the highest ridge of
the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross)
Mountains – the Łysogory – with its two
highest peaks: Łysica at 612 metres
(2,008 ft) and Łysa Góra ("Bald Mountain")
at 595 m (1,952 ft). It also covers the
eastern part of the Klonowski Ridge and
part of the Pokrzywianski Ridge. The park
has its headquarters in Bodzentyn.
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9. History of
Świtękorzyski
National Park
• The history of efforts to protect this part of
Poland dates back to the times before World
War I. In 1921 a first forest reserve in the
Swiętokrzyskie mountains was created – this
was Józef Kostyrko's reserve on Chełmowa
Góra (1.63 km2). The following year, two parts
of the Łysogory with total area of
3.11 km2 also became protected. In 1932 the
area of the reserve was officially expanded to
13.47 km2, but the National Park was not
created until 1950. Its initial area was
60.54 km2, but it has since expanded to 76.26
square kilometres (29.44 sq mi), of which
72.12 km2 is forested. There are five strictly
protected zones with a total area of
17.31 km2.
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10. Landscape
• The Świętokrzyskie Mountains are the oldest in Poland.
Elevated in three different tectonic periods, they spread out in
the Małopolska Upland, between Pilica and the Vistula. Their
outlines are gentle and their heights are small. However, they
fascinate with the extremely original structure, varied vegetation
and the animal world.
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11. Flora
• The park is famous for its trees, of
which 674 are regarded as
monuments of nature and as such
are under protection. Park authorities
successfully managed to
reintroduce yew trees here – now
there are around 1300 of them. Most
of the park's area is forested, mainly
with pines and beeches. Fir trees are
less numerous as well as forests of
mixed oak-fir character. Among the
park's curiosities we must emphasize
the endemic, unique only for this
area, fir wilderness and areas of
Polish larch on Chełmowa Góra.
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12. Fauna
• The park's fauna is represented by
more than 4000 species
of invertebrates and 210 species
of vertebrae (including 187
protected). One of local animal's life
most precious features is the fact
that many of species are of
mountainous kind. These usually
thrive in the strictly protected areas
and deep in the forests.
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13. Architecture
• Apart from nature, the park and its
vicinity has a lot more to offer.
There are several important
architectural relics, most of which
of sacral character. The most
precious is the Benedictine Holy
Cross Abbey from the first half of
the 12th century, located on the
peak of Łysa Góra. It is probable
that here the oldest example of
Polish writing was created –
Kazania Świętoktrzyskie (Holy
Cross Sermons). An interesting
feature of the local landscape is the
numerous roadside chapels.
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14. Tourist
attractions
• Palace of the Kraków Bishops -National
Museum
The Palace of the Kraków Bishops in
Kielce (Polish: Pałac Biskupów Krakowskich
w Kielcach), was built in the 17th century as
a summer residence of bishops of
Kraków in Kielce, Poland. The architecture of
the palace constitutes a unique mélange of
Polish and Italian traditions and reflects
political ambitions of its founder.[Currently the
palace houses a branch of the National
Museum with an important gallery of Polish
paintings
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15. • Since the beginning the palace
accompanied by a small decorative
garden, called Italian, referring to
the castle gardens created within the
walls.The axis of the garden was the
extension of the palace's axis, leading
from the loggia into a well, roofed by a
green dome, and the gunpowder tower.
The central terrace with herbs and
seasonal flowers was surrounded by fruit
trees, forming a court orchard.
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16. Sienkiewicz
Street
• Henryk Sienkiewicz Street
in Kielce (Polish: ulica Henryka
Sienkiewicza) is the main
commercial and historic "artery" of
the city of Kielce, Poland. It was
built in the middle of the 19th
century. It was originally called ulica
Konstantego (Constantine Street),
then Postal Street and in 1919 it
received its present name. Shops
and department stores are located
there as well as historic buildings
and monuments. It is approximately
1270 meters long and runs from
the railway station situated next to
the Independence square to
the Moniuszko Square.
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17. Homo
Homini (monument)
• Homo Homini (Latin: "A human to another
human") is the first monument in Europe to
commemorate the victims of the September 11
attacks in the United States. It is located
in Kielce in Poland. The monument was
designed by Adam Myjak and was unveiled on
September 11, 2006, on the fifth anniversary of
the attacks. During the opening
ceremony, George W. Bush's letter to citizens
of Kielce was read out, and students from
Kielce schools lit up grave candles. Each grave
candle was inscribed with information, giving a
single victim's name and occupation
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19. Kadzielnia Amphitheatre
• Kadzielnia Amphitheatre is located in the
southern part of the excavation Kadzielnia, on
the south-eastern side of the geological reserve
of the same name. Operation of the quarry lasted
until the early 60’s, and the history of mining raw
materials to the needs of the lime industry dates
back over 200 years. One of the key steps of the
gradual restoration and development of the
former quarry was the creation of the reserve
Kadzielnia and construction of the
amphitheatre. The amphitheatre was opened in
1971. In 2008 remodeling project initiated
Kadzielnia Amphitheatre, which ended finally in
2010.
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20. Botanical Garden
• The establishment of the Botanical Garden is yet
another major step towards promotion of tourist
must-sees in the city of Kielce and Świętokrzyskie
region as a geotourist and naturalist’s paradise,
bringing education as well as geological and
ecological experience to the visitor’s fingertips.
• The entire facility and green area complex have been
designed on the axis of the historic road which led to
the monastic complex and the natural reserve of
Karczówka hill.
Karczówkowska Street shall be the dividing line
between two parts of the Garden. One of them is the
exhibition part, located to the south of Karczówkowska
Street, on the exposed hill slope. Here, individual
sections of the Garden have been located , where
homogeneous, specialised collections will be housed.
The following sections have been planned: protected
plants, plant taxonomy, indigenous flora, an arboretum,
ornamental plants, domesticated plants, evolution and
biology. WSB
21. Creative Work Centre
• Creative Work Centre „Wietrznia” was established in 1976
as the Institution of Art and Culture of the City Hall of Kielce.
It was created for the needs of sculptors and sculptural
development in the area.
• In the 70’s and 80’s the open-air sculpture workshop took
place for the Polish artists and Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts
students. During the workshops there were some projects
and monuments created which are located in the city and the
surrounded area of the whole voivodeship. In 1994-2003 the
Centre of Creative Work was the branch of Kielce Cultural
Centre. Since 2003 it has been a part of Geopark Kielce.
• Nowadays there are six workshops where local artists can
create some of their works. Among of the artists there are
particularly: Arkadiusz Latos, Kornel Arciszewski, Waldemar
Musik, Wacław Stawecki, Piotr Suliga, Jan Szałapski.
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22. Kielce
Cathedral
• The Cathedral Basilica of the
Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (Polish: Bazylika
katedralna Wniebowzięcia
Najświętszej Maryi Panny w
Kielcach ) simplified to Kielce
Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic
church that has the status of
cathedral and basilica located in the
city of Kielce in Poland.It is located
in the "Castle Hill" in the heart of
the city, next to the Palace of the
Bishops of Kraków, also a famous
landmark.
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24. Kielce-Dąbrowa
Górnicza
The Kielce-Dąbrowa Górnicza route, which can be travelled
by car or bus (the train often runs completely differently),
shows on the car map the distance of km and the travel time
is 2 h 3 min. However, it may be extended in the event of
difficulties on the roads, such as repairs or traffic jams.
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