In the Świętokrzyskie region there are not many such picturesquely located towns with such a long history as Bodzentyn. Surrounded from one side by colourful striped fields and by wooded mountain ranges on the other, the seemingly small, insignificant and sleepy town hides a multitude of secrets.
Bodzentyn - a town with a long history
Strolling along the old, cobbled streets of Bodzentyn, you will discover real treasures. You will see the medieval urban layout with Lower and Upper Market Squares, a chessboard pattern of streets and fragments of fortified walls. In the Czernikiewicz homestead, you will travel back in time almost 200 years. You will look into a wooden cottage and see the furnishings of a multigenerational family. You will smell the characteristic aroma of old wood.
Fot. Widok na Bodzentyn, Sławek Rakowski
Fot. Widok na Bodzentyn, Sławek Rakowski
Above Bodzentyn's low-rise, small-town architecture of Bodzentyn towers the Gothic edifice of St. Stanislaus' Church. In its inside you will see the painting of the ‘Crucifixion’, about which a lot of anecdotes. The horse's rump in the central part of the painting distracted the praying at Wawel Castle and the Kielce Cathedral. Bodzentyn, which was famous for its horse markets for centuries, did not make much of an impression on the faithful visitors.
Right next to the parish church are the remains of the castle, founded by the founders of the town - the bishops of Krakow. The romantic ruins of the bishop's mansion are a distinctive landmark of Bodzentyn. Currently being renovated, they will soon become a landmark of the of the town.
Fot. Ruiny zamku w Bodzentynie, Sławek Rakowski
Fot. Ruiny zamku w Bodzentynie, Sławek Rakowski
ŚWIĘTOKRZYSKI NATIONAL PARK
the bishop's farm on the castle hill was connected to the situated below Podzamcze manor. The management of the Świętokrzyski National Park is now based here. The educational garden ‘Podzamcze Bodzentyńskie’ can be used on site. Hiking trails run through the area of the Świętokrzyskie National Park within the Bodzentyn Municipality:
- red Kuźniaki - Gołoszyce
- blue Cedzyna - Wąchock
- green Łączna - Starachowice.
The tourist navel of the world in the municipality of Bodzentyn
which village in the municipality of Bodzentyn the most frequented by tourists? It is clear! Saint Catherine village. From there they set off on foot to the top of Łysica - the highest peak of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, look into the chapel of St Francis and try the water from the magic spring, visit the silent walls of St. Catherine's monastery and search for jeweller's wares made of striped flint.
Fot. Kapliczka i źródełko św. Franciszka w Świętej Katarzynie, Archiwum ROTWŚ