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Kielce city (Poland)

Kielce-Miasto, Swietokrzyskie vojvodship

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Kielce city
Kielce city CoA

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Kielce city

Kielce is the capital of the Swiętokrzyskie Province. The city, with its 900 year history and with 215 thousand inhabitants, is situated in the Srodkowomałopolska Upland. Kielce is also an excellent base for the exploration of the oldest mountains in Europe - the Swiętokrzyskie mountains - as well as the Swiętokrzyskie National Park and the Old Polish Industrial District. Within Kielce's boundries there are four of them: Kadzielnia, Slichowice and Białogon geological sanctuaries and the Karczówka landscape sanctuary.
Kielce's origins date back to distant times. According to one of the legends, Kielce was established by prince Mieszko, the son of Bolesław Smiały (the end of the 11th century). However, the archaeological discoveries prove that the city existed as early as in the first half of the 11th century. The city's name was first mentioned in a document from 1213. One of the many legends says the name comes from the word ''klecie'' which means primitive huts inhabited by the settlers. Yet another legend associates the origins of the word with a settlement established in the region by the Celts, called here ''klatowie''. Most probably, however, Kielce adopted its name after the Middle Poland house of Kielczowie, the hypothetical founders of the settlement. At the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries the city was the property of Cracow's bishops, who built a palace at the top of a hill, known nowadays as Palace Hill. In 1171, bishop Gedeon, of Gryf crest, built the St. Wojciech stone church in the place of a larch one, and then established the collegiate church .
Information from this site.
Jarig Bakker, 30 Aug 2001

Kielce city CoA

image from this site.