Driving from Ruda Strawczyńska to Mniów, it is worth taking a break and stopping at Kuęniaki in order to see a huge metallurgical furnace, very interesting as regards the architecture, which once belonged to a steel mill called “Jadwiga”.

• Kuźniaki

The first blast furnace on the Polish land was located in Bobrza, a small place in Kielce Powiat (the second level of Polish administrative division), in the 17th century.

• Bobrza

The palace belonged to the Cracovian bishops who owned large estates in the Świętokrzyski region. The residence founded by bishop Jakub Zadzik (1582-1642) was erected on the Cathedral Hill. It is considered to be the best-preserved architectural construction in Poland from the Vasa dynasty times.

• Kielce, pl. Zamkowy 1
• +48 41 344 23 18

The monastery was founded by king Kazimierz Wielki in 1368. Ruined by Protestants and Swedes, it was rebuilt and enlarges in the later periods to acquire new cloisters, chapels and additional storeys. It was taken away from the Franciscans at the beginning of the 19th century and became a prison.

• Chęciny, ul. Franciszkańska 10
• +48 41 315 10 69

Bodzentyn had a sizable Jewish community. In the mid-19th century, Jews of Bodzentyn belonged to the synagogue district of Szydłowiec and buried their dead there. However, in 1866, the Jewish residents of Bodzentyn managed to obtain a permit to build a cemetery in their own town.

• Bodzentyn
• +48 519 165 300

Located at the crossing of the Staszów – Jędrzejów and Kielce – Tarnów roads, Chmielnik has a synagogue and two Jewish cemeteries: they testify to the wealth and importance of the former Jewish community of Chmielnik.

• Chmielnik
• +48 41 354 47 26

Opened in October 2006, the Kielce Historical Museum is one of the youngest cultural institutions of the Świętokrzyski region. It features a permanent exhibition entitled Kielce Through Centuries.

• Kielce, ul. Leonarda 4
• +48 41 340 55 20

Built on the southern slope of the Castle Hill (18thc.), it"s the only timber (larch wood) manor in Kielce. Covered with shingle roof and entered through a charming portico with columns, the Laszczyk family manor houses the head office of the Open-Air Museum of the Kielce Village and temporary exhibitions.

• Kielce, ul. Jana Pawła II 6
• +48 41 344 92 97

The museum was founded in 1963 as a fixed part of PIG"s branch in Świętokrzyskie, first as an archive and since 1992 as a museum open for visitors.

• Kielce
• +48 41 361 25 37

On top of the highest rocky mountain in the environs, known as Mt Zamkowa, stands a ruin of the Gothic Royal Castle of Chęciny. It was erected before 1306, and king Władysław Łokietek, bishop Jan Muskate, and king Władysław II are mentioned as its founders.

• Chęciny, pl. 2 Czerwca 4