Góry Świętokrzyskie Mountains

Also known as the Holy Cross Mountains are part of the Małopolska uplands being some of the oldest mountains in Europe.

They have been eroded over thousands of years and so are now neither very high or have steep sides but are exceptionally rich in mineral deposits. These minerals have been exploited over many generations and there are remains of ancient prehistoric mines and workings found of old furnaces.

From the early Middle Ages the Góry Świętokrzyskie Mountains were a place of extensive copper and iron mining and later became a significant site of limestone and red sandstone extraction.

The Łysogóry mountain range is the largest in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains being about 25 kilometres long and runs from the Lubrzanka river in the north west, to the area of Nowa Słupia in the south east. It contains the highest peak of the Świetokrzyskie Mountains, Łysica at 612 meters or 2,000 feet, and its most famous mountain Łysa Góra (Bald Mountain; also known as Łysiec or Święty Krzyż) with a height of 595 meters (1,952 ft)

Łysogóry can be divided into two parts, with the eastern half, being densely covered by the Jodlowa Wilderness (Puszcza Jodlowa), which contains both the highest peaks of the range situated within the boundaries of the Świętokrzyski National Park and the western half, which is less forested and has smaller peaks.

Świętokrzyski National Park is within the Holy Cross Mountains and was a primeval forest of fir trees that use to cover the range but has been badly damaged due to the effects of acid rain in the 1970s and 1980s.

In ancient times the peak of Łysa Góra was used as a place of pagan worship.

The slopes are covered with Goloborze (called stone run, stone river, stone stream, stone sea, German Blockhalde) and is a kind of conical cap, consisting of rubble rock (debris , boulders or blocks). In other words rock rubble in the mountains. Goloborze is built entirely of coarse rocks and does not contain gravel, sand or clay.

On the summit of Łysa Góra you will find a Benedictine Abbey that was built in the 12th century and was extended during the rule of the Jagiellonian dynasty.

Łysogóry is mostly made of quartzite, with numerous stone runs.

The Main peaks are:

Łysica – 612 m.

Łysa Góra – 595 m.

Ksieza Skala – 550 m.

Hucka – 547 m.

Biala Skala – 547 m.

Widna Skala – 544 m.

Sztymber – 530 m.

Chelmiec – 456 m.

Radostowa – 451 m.

Krainski Grzbiet – 428 m.

Wymyslona – 415 m.

The Góry Świętokrzyskie Mountains range is crossed by several tourist trails red trail of Edmund Massalski, and two blue trails.

Góry Świętokrzyskie Mountains Geography of Poland David's Travel Guides