They are not tall, but they are beautiful, covered with dense forest. They are suitable for not too strenuous climbing. It's best to come here in August and September.

The highest range of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains - Łysogóry - can be wandered in one day. It is enough to walk 6-7 hours, all the time along the red tourist trail. However, we will not be able to cross the ridge from end to end - the signs will bring us to the edge of the forest. And while the wide path is tempting, we must let ourselves be guided by signs. These are the rules in the national park.

Day one

We start in Święta Katarzyna. Here, at the foot of Łysica, the first tourist shelter of the Polish Sightseeing Society was established in the Kingdom of Poland. Hence, the tourist conquest of Łysogóry was started. Today's accommodation base - for such a small town - is surprisingly large. There is a PTTK Jodełka excursion house, Baba Jaga inn and many agritourism farms. Before we go to the mountains, you can book your accommodation, if we haven't done it before we left.
We start our trip to Łysica by visiting the monastery - St. Catherine's - of course. It has existed since the beginning of the 15th century, and around it, a community was formed, which took the name of its patron. Now the Bernardines live here. Tourists can see the cloisters, the courtyard and the interior of the church. The rest is closed with an enclosure.

Worth knowing

  • Tourist information:
    Regional Chamber in Nowa Słupia
    p. Świętokrzyska 18
    26 - 006 Nowa Słupia
    tel. 041 31-77-626
  • Admission to the Świętokrzyski National Park is payable. The ticket costs 5 zlotys (3 zlotys) per day. The price includes admission to the nature museum on the Holy Cross and to the viewing platform above the gravel pit on Łysa Góra.
  • Interesting websites:
    http: //www.nowaslupia.pl/
    http: //www.dymarki.pl/
    http: //www.swietokrzyskie .pl /
    http: //www.swietokrzyskipn.org.pl/

    • From the monastery we go to the highest peak of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (612 m). The hiking trail is badly marked here, so be careful. We reach the wooden chapel of St. Francis with a wonderful spring.
    And then only uphill, on a rocky path. The climb should not take us less than 40-50 minutes. We are looking for fir trees: after all, it is the Fir Forest. You have to look for dark silhouettes among the beech trees that are colorful at this time of the year. Fir as a medicine. Even on the signs on the pathWe read that the forest we are passing is a Carpathian beech forest.
    At the top - a gravel area. Bare places, no boron. This is how the name of the rock debris, a showpiece of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, is translated. After a short rest, we continue our hike along the red trail. On the mountain pass, at the chapel of St. Nicholas, the signs will lead us south, to the edge of the forest. Here, on the edge of the village of Kakonin, we will see a 100-year-old farm, now a mini-museum (admission PLN 1.50, discounted - PLN 1).
    We will return to Saint Catherine along the edge of the forest on the park border, along a path without a trail, but with a view of the lower the Orłowiński, Brzechowskie and Klonowskie ranges.

    Day two

    Now we are attacking Łysogóry from the other end. From Nowa Słupia we will go to the Holy Cross, which celebrated its millennium last year. Before the Benedictine abbey was established here in 1006, Łysa Góra (596 m) was a center of pagan worship, as evidenced by the stone circle surrounding its peak. Here, too, for the Sabbaths of Łysogóra witches used to gather. Until the 17th century, the monastery was the country's most important place of religious worship and a destination for pilgrimages. Then his role was taken over by Częstochowa. Now the monastery is run by Oblates missionaries.
    From Nowa Słupia we set out along the blue trail. We pass the area where, at the end of summer, Świętokrzyskie boilers are organized (an event during which old methods of iron smelting are reconstructed), a museum of ancient metallurgy and one of the symbols of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains - the Pilgrim, a stone statue supposedly going to the Holy Cross. And further - again along a rocky path - upwards. The hike will take us about 30 minutes.
    In the monastery complex, we will visit the church with a chapel, where the relics of the Holy Cross tree are kept, the porch where Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, the father of the Polish king, is located, a natural museum and a mission museum. Above the monastery, behind the huge TV tower, from the viewing platform, we will look at the largest grazing area in Łysogóry.
    Instead of going back the same way, I suggest going down the red trail to Trzcianka. On the way we will see some really powerful fir trees.

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