Surrounding
Late Renaissance Town Hall
The building is located in the middle of the Grand Market Square. It is the headquarters of the City Council and the Mayor of Szydłowiec. Construction of the town hall lasted from 1602 till 1629, however the funds needed for its construction were raised at a record pace even by today’s standards- in three years. The tower of the town hall, which stands under Magdeburg law in the middle of the rectangular Grand Market Square, towers over the entire city and can be seen from several kilometers away. The structure is today counted as one of the most beautiful middle-class buildings in Poland. The current shape of the town hall is the result of many renovations and transformations; it was rebuilt in 1809, 1918 and 1945-1960, since it was severally destroyed during warfare. However, it was done with great care and its present-day appearance hardly differs from the preserved old iconography. The town hall was also a home to the painter, representative of the Munich School- Władysław Aleksander Malecki. Nowadays, one of the tourist attractions is the entrance to the city hall tower. The tower displays a recreated studio of Władysław Malecki, where you can find reproductions of his paintings.
The Castle
The gothic-renaissance residence of the Szydłowiec and Radziwiłł family and Princess Anna Sapieżyna, built by Stanisław Szydłowiecki in years 1470-1480 on the location of a former stronghold. The castle was built on an artificial island, reinforced with wooden piles. In the years 151-1526, the gothic castle was rebuilt and expanded into a renaissance residence by Mikołaj Szydłowiecki, Stanisław’s son. He constructed a two-story east wing and adapted the already existing old manor house building into it. In the representative part of the east wing, a observation loggia was arranged, and around the moat, there was a magnificent garden with a petting zoo. The interiors were decorated with polychromes, whose authors were Stanisław Samostrzelnik and Piotr the painter, who was sent from Królewiec by Albrecht Hohenzollern. The present form of the castle, we owe to the Radziwiłł Family, who took over Szydłowiec through the marriage of Elżbieta Szydłowiecka to Mikołaj “Czarny” Radziwił. However, special care was given to the castle by Krzysztof Mikołaj ,,Sierotka” Radziwiłł and his son Albrycht, who is mentioned in the inscription placed in the portal located in the courtyard.
Reservoir in Szydłowiec
The Szydłowiec reservoir is a body of water located near the center of the town and is an important place for the residents of Szydłowiec and the surroundings, with strong touristic significance. The water surface, visible from the town hall tower raises the curiosity of tourists visiting our town and effectively encourages walks to its surroundings. In recent years, the area by the reservoir has changed in many ways. There has been built a wooden deck, called a pier by locals, which is now a popular open-air photographic spot. The entire body of water has been cleaned, and an oasis of greenery has appeared around it, between which we can walk along sandstone alleys. Rest arbors have also appeared, where we can rest after an intense walk. Each year the reservoir is becoming more and more popular, it is a perfect place for relaxation and recreation for everyone. Those resting by the reservoir can swim, sunbathe, use the outdoor gym and the beach soccer and volleyball courts. You can also take a walk on the pier, which offers a view of the historic part of the city, as well as enjoy other activities. A 4,5 kilometer-long nordic walking path, which starts at the reservoir, leads to the south of the city. On the route of this loop, a board has been installed with suggestions for exercises to be carried out individually. During the summer season, the bathing area is protected by lifeguards, and those resting there can use water and beach equipment rentals. It is also valued by fishing enthusiasts, with such fish species as roach, bream, ide, tench and carp to be caught. Meanwhile, a playground, a skate park and an unmanned rope park are available for the younger ones. The reservoir is bustling with life at almost any time, not just in summer. In winter, “walruses” appear on the beach.
Stone quarries
Szydłowiec is said to be the “City on stone” for a reason. The town was erected on Szydłowiec sandstone from the Jurassic period. The stonemasonry traditions date back to early days of the settlement’s formation, the XVI century. Szydłowiec sandstone was very popular in the second half of the XIX and early XX centuries. There were numerous quarries and processing facilities in and near the town. Szydłowiec sandstone was used to rebuilt citied throughout Poland that were destroyed after the war, as well as to make the facades of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw and the Marszałkowska Street buildings. Nowadays, the quarries in Szydłowiec are closed. A few hundred meters away from each other, “Pikiel” and “Podkowiński” are named after their owners and are flooded with water. This is one of the must-see points when visiting Szydłowiec. It is worth mentioning that the neighborhood you will still find working quarries, which extract this particularly important product for this region.
Jewish Cemetery
Szydłowiec Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest preserved in Poland. On the present area of the cemetery there are 3100 matzevots. The cemetery was established in the second half of the XVII century. It was established with the beginning of the mass settlement of Jews and the formation of the Jewish religious municipalty. Over the years it occupied a larger and larger area, because it was used to bury not only Jews from Szydłowiec, but also from nearby and even more distant towns that did not have their own cemetery- from Suchedniów, Bodzentyn, Wąchock, Psary. Today’s area of the cemetery is about 1/3 of its former size. Still in 1956 the cemetery boarded from the west with today’s Kościuszko Street. In 1957 the authorities closed the cemetery, and then assigned its area for development. The gravestones from this territory were moved to the current cemetery, placing them tightly next to each other in several rows. They have the form of traditional Jewish matzevot- rectangular stone slabs, often rounded at the top. Each has an inscription in Hebrew and a pictogram with symbolism about the life of the deceased. The graves mainly date from 1901 to 1939. Their symbolism refers to the deceased’s gender, occupation and piety. For example, candles in a candlestick, sometimes broken, are found only on women’s gravestones, for it was the woman’s responsibility to light them on Friday evening and begin the Sabbath celebration. Books lined up on a shelf of a men’s gravestones say that the deceased was a rabbi, scribe, teacher or lector in the synagogue.
Szydłowiec parish church
Late gothic church of St. Zygmunt King of Burgundy from 1404, known as the parish. Funded by Jakub and Sławek Odrowążów, the church was primarily wooden. At the end of the XV century, Jakub Szydłowiecki began, with his own funds, to build a brick church from local stone. It was completed before 1525 by his brother, Mikołaj Szydłowiecki. The church consists of a three-bay gothic vaulted presbytery and a rectangular nave covered with a flat larch ceiling with a polychrome painting representing St. Zygmunt, the church’s patron. From the north, a gothic sacristy and treasury adjoin the presbytery, from the south a chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary- the Szydłowiec family necropolis. In the presbytery, a beautiful late gothic polyptych, representing the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Gospel scenes, made in 1509 in the workshops of Cracow, is placed on the northern wall. Also shown on the polyptych are members of the Szydłowiec family, who were its funders. Also from the Cracow workshop comes the magnificent gilded main altar. In the wall of the presbytery is the gravestone of Mikołaj Szydłowiecki in red marble, made in workshop of Bartolomeo Berecci, and in the mane nave, the classicist gravestone of Maria Gwardzicka Radziwiłłowa in white marble, made by Jakub Monaldi- the royal court sculptor of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. The figure of Maria Gawadzicka, the sister of the local priest and her love for her husband from the Radziwiłł family, which ended in a happy marriage, is connected with a local legend, most likely being the model for the figure of the “Leper”. Touching the marble figure is supposed to ensure good luck in love. From the late XVI and XVII centuries come interesting graffiti- drawings and inscriptions on the outer stone blocks of the presbytery and the south wall of the nave. Next to the church stands a bell tower dating back to the XVI century.
Malecki’s studio
On the next-to-last floor of the city hall tower is the restored last studio of painter Władysław Aleksander Malecki. The town hall was also a home to painter and representative of the Munich school- Władysław Aleksander Malecki. He was born in Masłow, near Kielce. He graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw and worked as a decorator for the Government Theaters and received a scholarship from the government to go abroad. He left for Munich and joined the colony of Polish artists located there, which included such artists as Józef Brandt, Aleksander Gierymski, Maksymilian Gierymski and Juliusz Kossak. In Munich, he painted most of his landscapes, which won medals at European exhibitions. At the Crystal Palace Picture Gallery in London in 1874, he won a gold medal for his painting “Suburb of Cracow”. In Poland, his best-known work is “Stork Seym”, which the artist donated to the National Museum in Cracow. Today you can see this painting in the Sukiennice branch, and its reproduction in the Szydłowiec studio. Malecki, in 1880 decided to return to Poland permanently, but the return was not a happy one. The painter was not as popular as abroad. He did not stop painting, now focusing on native landscapes. He changed places of living, and in May 1898 asked the Mayor of Szydłowiec- Dominik Dereń- to provide a room in the town hall. Malecki took up residence in the town hall tower, where he also set up a studio for himself. With each passing month his mental and physical condition (he suffered from rheumatism) continued to worsen and limited his creative drive. He painted less and less. Residents described him as reticent and shying away from people. On March 5, 1900, the Mayor of the city, together with a watchman, found him dead on the floor. To this day, the cause of death is not established, what is certain is that Malecki left behind at least 600 paintings in the city hall. Today, by climbing the city hall tower, you can see how the artist may have lived. Brushes, paints, photos, letters... and best of all: reproductions of paintings. You can see how small the masterpieces were and compare them to other paintings.
Parks
Radziwiłł Park also known as a Castle Garder, or Radziwiłł Garden. It is the oldest park in Szydłowiec- it was established in the XVI century by Mikołaj Szydłowiecki. Its area now covers about 8 hectares and is a small part of the former garden establishment. In the past there was a fruit garden, a vegetable garden, an ornamental Italian garden and petting zoo, where roe deer, deer, fallow deer, hares and pheasants were bred. The greenery surrounding the park, together with the Korzeniówka river flowing through it, as well as the magnificent old-growth forest and the view of the historic castle surrounded by a moat, create an ideal place for walks and leisure activities. Railroad Park created as a part of the construction of the national road S7, which runs through Szydłowiec. The area of the park is about 1,5 hectares of land surrounded by greenery. We can find here a playground for children, tables for playing chess and an impressive water pond. Quite simply, it is the perfect place for families with children, couples as well as a pack of friends to relax and stroll. Independence Park was created after the war period, in the place where a market was held before the war. It is located at 174 Kościuszko Street. In the park, surrounded on 4 sides by city streets, you will find monuments honoring the victims of the Katyń Massacre, soldiers of the Independence Underground and the Freedom and Independence Association. Old Town Square, also called Market Square and Kościuszko Square by some. It is one of the oldest green areas in Szydłowiec. It was created on an area ruined after the war, where there used to be, among other things, a parson's tavern. Directly next to the square is the Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument, built in 1923.