Żarnów - Swedish Top

Żarnów is a thousand-year-old town (at least), one of the oldest in Poland. What today is Opoczno County and Konecki County (or "Ziemia Odrowążów" / "Opoczne") used to have its center in Żarnów. The former castellan stronghold on "Mierzińska Góra" (ie mournful, repulsive, terrible, because ... connected with the power, quite cruel Piast rule, which carried out a brutal conquest of these lands a thousand years ago) - no longer exists. The church was completely rebuilt in 1903, although it is considered "Romanesque" .. An interesting place is therefore the so-called "stronghold" on Scepa (very old name of a small river), here called "Swedish Mountain" ... The name is associated with the great battle in which the troops of the Swedish king (9,000 soldiers) and the Polish king (12,000 soldiers) faced in 1655 near Żarnów. The defeat of the Poles ("Black Thursday") was complete, the fleeing Poles were chased by the Swedes 7 km to the west and hacked by hundreds. The number of dead bodies exceeded a thousand. The population of Żarnów was also treated .. King Jan Kazimierz is said to have watched the defeat of his troops from the top of the "Szwedzka Góra", where at that time there were still ruins of the former settlement. Today, the area of ​​the "stronghold" is beautifully developed (and not for business purposes): there is the above-mentioned mountain (surprisingly high), there are plaques with historical information (in Żarnów they are everywhere, and this is a phenomenon on the scale of the region), there is a palisade (creating a substitute for the atmosphere of the Middle Ages), there are goats that clip the grass on the hills. But why does not one of the plaques commemorate the great lost battle of Żarnów? Anyway, the vicinity of Żarnów is a crossroads of many routes, not only Swedes, but also Tatars, Lithuanians, Russians, and Germans passed here) And the surroundings of "Szwedzka Góra"? And, it's rather a pity for words, it is not a tourist attraction, as it is in most Polish towns. From this hill you can see that the space in Żarnow is what it is. Same as a national road which has to pass through the market itself, causing a TIR to pass this way every 5 seconds. 20 years in the EU ..... There is still a long way to go before ... the state budget for Żarnów to be the famous Żarnów, and not just a collapsing village with a proud, medieval name. Or maybe it will never change? Maybe what was the most successful… was it already?

In a small town such a curiosity. The square itself has potential. A lot of space to rest, maybe even an overnight stay. Right on the road.

The mound is not high but it is quite nice to see the surrounding fields and meadows looking east.

Place of losing battle of King Jan Kazimierz

Very pretty village with shops and a very beautiful church