Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Administrative region in southeastern Poland
Świętokrzyskie is an administrative region in southeastern Poland organized around the mountain range of the same name and covering several nature reserves and river valleys. The voivodeship extends over an area that runs from forested hills to rural plains with fields and small towns.
The area was already settled in the Stone Age, and archaeologists found traces of flint mining and workshops that were active several millennia before our era. In the Middle Ages trade routes and monasteries developed here, and later mining shaped the economic life of many settlements.
The name comes from the Holy Cross Mountains, a range that has drawn pilgrims and hikers for centuries and whose highest point is called Łysica. In many villages across the region you can still see traditional wooden houses and small roadside chapels that recall old customs and now often play a part in local festivals.
Hiking paths and cycle routes run through forests and fields, and you can also find riding stables in several settlements for trips on horseback. Most points of interest are spread across the entire area, so a car or bus is advisable for longer distances between individual places.
In Krzemionki you can enter underground passages from prehistory that miners carved into the rock thousands of years ago to extract flint. The old shafts are now open to visitors and show how people worked in the depths back then, without modern tools or electric light.
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