Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship ( ), also known as Holy Cross Voivodeship, is a

voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...

(

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

) in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland. The province's capital and largest city is

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. The voivodeship takes its name from the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains. Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is bounded by six other voivodeships: Masovian to the north, Lublin to the east, Subcarpathian to the south-central, Lesser Poland to the south, Silesian to the southwest, and

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

to the northwest. The province covers an area of , making it the second smallest province (after Opole). As at 2019, the total population of Świętokrzyskie Province was 1,237,369.

History

20180816 Zamek w Sandomierzu 1708 8999 DxO

Inhabited since pre-historic times, the area of Skarżysko-Kamienna and Wąchock contains several hundred former

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

sites from 13,000-10,000 years ago, now known as the Rydno Archaeological Reserve. From 3900 BC to 1600 BC, striped flint was mined at Krzemionki, one of the largest known complexes of prehistoric flint mines in Europe, now a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

and Historic Monument of Poland. The territory formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. Sandomierz was mentioned as one of three centers of the Kingdom of Poland, along

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, in the early-12th-century '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' chronicle. Sandomierz and Wiślica, whose historic landmarks are designated Historic Monuments of Poland, are former medieval ducal seats of the Piast dynasty. In the early modern period the Old-Polish Industrial Region developed in the region. Following the late-18th-century

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, the region witnessed several uprisings against foreign rule, i.e. the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

of 1830–1831 and January Uprising of 1863–1864. In the interbellum, the region was part of reborn independent Poland. Its industry was developed as part of the Central Industrial Region of Poland. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was occupied by Germany, with the occupiers committing their genocidal policies against

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

in the region, massacring civilians, including at Skarżysko-Kamienna and Michniów, and operating numerous prisons and forced labour camps. The Polish resistance movement was active in the region, with the short-lived Republic of Pińczów liberated in 1944. Holy Cross Province was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Kielce Voivodeship, eastern Częstochowa Voivodeship, and western Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998.

Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 4 cities and 39 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019):

Administrative division

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is divided into 14 counties (

powiat A ''powiat'' (; ) is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture (Local administrative unit, LAU-1 ormerly Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-4 ...

s): 1 city county and 13 land counties. These are further divided into 102

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

s. The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).

Economy

The

Gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP) of the province was 11.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 2.3% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 15,400 € or 51% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 58% of the EU average. Świętokrzyskie Voivodship is the province with the fifth lowest GDP per capita in Poland.

Protected areas

Protected areas in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship include one

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 ...

and nine Landscape Parks. These are listed below. * Świętokrzyski National Park * Chęciny-Kielce Landscape Park * Cisów-Orłowiny Landscape Park * Jeleniowska Landscape Park * Kozubów Landscape Park * Nida Landscape Park * Przedbórz Landscape Park (partly in

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

) * Sieradowice Landscape Park * Suchedniów-Oblęgorek Landscape Park * Szaniec Landscape Park

Sights and tourism

There are ten Historic Monuments of Poland and one

in the voivodeship: * Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region (listed as both) * Kraków Bishops Palace and Kielce Cathedral * Henryk Sienkiewicz Palace with park in Oblęgorek * St. Martin's Collegiate Church, Opatów *Camaldolese monastery complex in Rytwiany *Old Town of Sandomierz *Benedictine monastery complex at Święty Krzyż * Krzyżtopór Castle in Ujazd * Wąchock Abbey * Collegiate Basilica of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary and stronghold in Wiślica Preserved old towns include Opatów and the fortified town of Szydłów. In Opatów and Sandomierz there are underground tourist routes in historic cellars under the old town market squares. There are multiple castles, including in Bodzentyn, Chęciny, Sandomierz and Szydłów, and palaces, including in Czyżów Szlachecki and Kurozwęki. There are two spa towns: Busko-Zdrój and Solec-Zdrój. Ćmielów, a town with a rich tradition of

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

production, is home to the Living Porcelain Museum. There are numerous

memorials, including memorials at the site of Nazi massacres of Poles and Holocaust memorials. Krzemionki 20150519 6495.jpg, Krzemionki Kielce-Kirche-5.jpg, Kielce Cathedral 20180816 Ratusz w Sandomierzu 1652 8985 DxO.jpg, Town Hall in Sandomierz Holy Cross Monastery - 04.jpg, Święty Krzyż Monastery Ruiny zamku Krzyżtopór 2.jpg, Krzyżtopór Kapitularz klasztoru w Wachocku.jpg, Wąchock Abbey Kurozwęki Castle 20230719 01.jpg, Kurozwęki Palace Czyzow palace 20060623 1402.jpg, Czyżów Szlachecki Palace Krakow Gate in Szydlow 01.jpg, Fortified town of Szydłów PL - Opatów - ratusz - 2012-08-11--16-01-20-01.jpg, Town hall in Opatów Busko park (Sanatorium Marconi).jpg, Sanatorium Marconi in Busko-Zdrój MOs810 WG 25 2024 (Kielce-Wisła) Ćmielów Market Square 06.jpg, Fountain at the Market Square in Ćmielów

Sports

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and football enjoy the largest following in the province.

Curiosities

*In the 16th-17th centuries, Scottish settlers were noted in various towns in the current province, including Busko-Zdrój, Chęciny,

, Koprzywnica, Nowy Korczyn, Opatów, Pacanów,

Pińczów Pińczów is a town in southern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about 40 km south of Kielce. It is the capital of Pińczów County. The population is 10,946 (2018). Pińczów belongs to the historical region of Lesser Poland (Polish: ...

, Połaniec, Raków, Sandomierz, Secemin.

References

External links

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship official website
(Polish, English, German)
Świętokrzyski Urząd Wojewódzki Official website
(Polish, English, Russian, Ukrainian, French)
Regional Tourist Information Center official website
(Polish, English, German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship States and territories established in 1999 1999 establishments in Poland