Last modified: 2005-12-10 by jarig bakker
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Kielce county flag should have ratio 5:7 as specified in the construction
sheets for the flag. The picture at the linked site is wrong too, but it
says the ratio is 5:7.
J.J.Andersson, 29 Jan 2002
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