Świętokrzyski National Park () is a

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship ( ), also known as Holy Cross Voivodeship, is a voivodeship (province) in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland. The province's capital and largest city is Kielce. The voivodeship takes its ...

in central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It covers the highest ridge of the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains – the Łysogory – with its two highest peaks: Łysica at and Łysa Góra ("Bald Mountain") at . It also covers the eastern part of the Klonowski Ridge and part of the Pokrzywianski Ridge. The park has its headquarters in Bodzentyn.

History

The history of efforts to protect this part of Poland dates back to the times before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 a 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 been expanded to , of which 72.12 km² is forested. There are five strictly protected zones with a total area of 17.31 km².

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.

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

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s and

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

es.

Fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

trees are less numerous as well as forests of mixed

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

-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.

Fauna

The park's

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

is represented by more than 4000 species of

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s and 210 species of

vertebrae Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...

(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.

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 The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Holy Cross Abbey from the first half of the 12th century, located on the peak of

Łysa Góra Łysa Góra , translated as Bald Mountain, is a well-known hill in Świętokrzyskie Mountains, Poland. With a height of 595 metres (1,952 ft), it is the second highest point in that range (after Łysica at 612 meters or 2,008 ft). On i ...

. It is probable that here the oldest example of Polish writing was created – ''Kazania Świętoktrzyskie'' (

Holy Cross Sermons The Holy Cross Sermons () are the oldest extant prose text in the Polish language, probably dating from the late 13th century, although the extant manuscripts date to the 14th century. The documents are named after the place where they were orig ...

). An interesting feature of the local landscape is the numerous roadside chapels. Other fine examples of architecture are situated beyond the park's limits. These are: female monastery at Św. Katarzyna (1633), churches at Bielice (17th century) and Bodzentynów (15th century), ruins of a castle at Bodzentyn (14th century), parts of rampart around Łysa Góra (9th century) and museum of metallurgy at Słupia Nowa, where occasionally ancient method of producing steel is presented to tourists. The park has many historical monuments connected with Polish national uprisings and the time of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation.

External links

University siteOfficial site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swietokrzyski National Park National parks of Poland Parks in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Protected areas established in 1950 1950 establishments in Poland Central European mixed forests