Church and monastery on Karczowka Hill, built in 1624-1631, originally settled by the Bernardine Order (dissolved by the Tsarist authorities in 1864). Since 1957r. the hosts of the facility are the Pallotines. Karczówka - a hill in the Swietokrzyskie Mountains, in the Kadzielnia Range, located within Kielce, southwest of the city center. For the most part it is built of Devonian limestone, while at its foot there are outcrops of Zechstein conglomerates. It is overgrown with old-growth pine trees, in which the age of some trees reaches 150 years. In the past, the Karczowka area was used for mining. Limestone and lead ores were mined here. Remnants of former mining operations in the form of shafts and post-mining ditches can be seen on the southern and western slopes. On the summit there is a vantage point overlooking Kielce and the Swietokrzyskie Mountains. In 1957 a landscape reserve was established on Karczówka with an area of 27 hectares. The summit is home to St. Charles Borromeo Church and a monastery formerly belonging to the Bernardine Fathers. The founder of the monastery complex was Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski of Krakow. It was built as a votive offering for the bypassing of Kielce by the plague of 1622. The monastery complex was built in 1624-1631 in the late Renaissance-early Baroque style. At the beginning of the 18th century the monastery was rebuilt. At that time outbuildings were added on the eastern side, enclosed by a wall with towers and a gate in the middle. In 1864 the Bernardine Order was dissolved by the tsarist authorities. Since 1957, the monastery has been cared for by Pallotine priests. The monastery is crowned by Baroque towers and bell towers covered with copper sheets. A baroque staircase made of red and gray sandstone quarried in Kielce leads to the interior. In the corridor at the entrance to the monastery is a painting depicting the sacking of the monastery by Swedish troops in 1655.The monastery church is single-aisled. The Baroque altar features a painting depicting St. Charles and St. Casimir. Other elements of the temple furnishings are rococo. Under the tower is located the chapel of St. Barbara, and in it is a Rococo statue of the saint from the 17th century, made from a nugget of lead ore - galena. Three large nuggets were found in the 17th century by Hilary Mala, a local miner, in shafts on Karczówka. The other two were used to make a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary located in Kielce Cathedral and a statue of St. Anthony in the church in Borkowice. In front of the monastery is located the Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima, rebuilt in 1986 from one of the farm buildings of the 18th century. North of the monastery is a monument and a mass grave of January insurgents. The red tourist trail running to Chęciny has its beginning at Karczówka.
22.08.2013
