Kielce, Pologne - points d'intérêt et guide de la ville (Mai 2024)
Świętokrzyskie, polonais en entier Województwo Świętokrzyskie, województwo (province), sud de la Pologne. Il est bordé par 6 des 16 provinces: Mazowieckie au nord, Lubelskie à l'est, Podkarpackie au sud-est, Małopolskie au sud, Śląskie au sud-ouest et Łódzkie au nord-ouest. Créée en 1999 pour remplacer les anciennes provinces (1975-1998) de Kielce et Tarnobrzeg, elle comprend également des parties des anciennes provinces de Częstochowa, Piotrków et Radom. La capitale provinciale est Kielce. Superficie 4 521 milles carrés (11 711 km carrés). Pop. (2011) 1 280 727.
Quiz
Une visite en Europe
Quel est le siège du gouvernement néerlandais?
Géographie
Świętokrzyskie est situé dans les hautes terres de Małopolska, une région avec un paysage très varié qui comprend les hautes terres de Przedborska, les hautes terres de Kielecka (contenant les montagnes de Świętokrzyskie) et la fosse de Nida. Les principaux fleuves sont la Vistule (Wisła), Pilica, Kamienna, Nida et Czarna. Les forêts couvrent un quart de la province. Les étés sont chauds et les hivers frais, avec un climat plus sévère régnant dans les montagnes iwiętokrzyskie. Les précipitations annuelles moyennes sont de 22 à 26 pouces (550 à 650 mm). Près de la moitié de la population vit dans les villes, dont les plus importantes sont Kielce, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Starachowice et Skarżysko-Kamienna.
Świętokrzyskie is one of Poland’s least economically developed provinces. Almost two-thirds of the province is agricultural and used for growing cereals, potatoes, fodder, vegetables, and fruit. Cattle breeding, pig raising, chicken farming, and horse breeding are also important. The region abounds in mineral resources, which occur mainly in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains and include limestone, gypsum, quartzite, sandstone, dolomite, marble, clay, sand, and sulfur. Prominent local industries include metalworking, automobile manufacturing, glass and ceramics manufacturing, food processing, building-materials manufacturing, and power production. Main roads link Kielce with Kraków, Warsaw, Piotrków, and Lublin, and a river port on the Vistula operates in Sandomierz.
The Świętokrzyskie Mountains, the oldest range in Poland, are a primary tourist attraction. The central (and tallest) part of the range is within the boundaries of the Świętokrzyski National Park. The Jaskinia Raj, or Paradise Cave, near Chęciny, contains evidence of human occupation dating back some 50,000 years. The mineral springs at the spa at Busko-Zdrój are popular with tourists and locals. The chancel of the Gothic cathedral at Sandomierz contains Ruthenian-Byzantine frescoes (painted in the 1420s); the Cistercian abbey in Wąchock has well-preserved Romanesque interiors; and the Palace of Krakow Bishops in Kielce features Baroque architecture. A number of famous Polish writers are associated with the region, such as Mikołaj Rej, who was born in Nagłowice during the Renaissance, and Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz, the author of Quo Vadis? (1896). Sienkiewicz’s manor house in Oblęgórek is now the Henryk Sienkiewicz Museum. Other noteworthy museums include the Museum of Ancient Metallurgy in Nowa Słupia and the Clock Museum in Jędrzejów, with a collection of some 300 sundials.
History
The Świętokrzyskie region is the cradle of Polish industry. As early as the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age) a flint mine operated in what is today Krzemionki Opatowskie. During the 2nd century bce an iron-mining and smelting industry developed near modern-day Nowa Słupia. The area was incorporated into the Polish state by Prince Mieszko I in 990. The major towns of the region were then Sandomierz and Wiślica. In the 12th century the duchy of Sandomierz emerged. During the 13th century it united with the duchy of Kraków. Its location at the junction of important trade routes was conducive to the development of handicrafts and commerce. Lead, silver, copper, and iron mines were established in the foothills of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, along with a smelting industry. In the 17th century blast furnaces were operating in Samsonów and Bobrza.
The wars fought by the Polish Commonwealth in the 17th century brought much destruction to the region. In 1795, following the last of the Partitions of Poland, the area was incorporated into the Austrian empire, and at the Congress of Vienna (1814–15) it was annexed to the Congress Kingdom of Poland, a Russian dependency. In the early 1800s the metal and smelting industry expanded quickly, accompanied by the rapid growth of towns and cities. In 1918 Kielce province was created, and in the interwar period the building of the Central Industrial District (including munitions works) began. During World War II numerous Jewish ghettos and labour camps were established in the area. In 1945 and again in 1950 there were mass migrations from overpopulated rural areas to Silesia (Śląsk) and to the western territories gained from Germany.
