Karczówka monastery in the times of the plague

Karczówka monastery and its patron

In these harsh times, those in Kielce familiar with a local history, lay their eyes on the Karczówka Hill with visible, even from greater distance, silhouette of a monastery there. Origins of the sanctuary on the top can be traced back to other period of a contagious disease. It is said that in 1624 a church dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo was built thanks to the effort of a bishop of Cracow Marcin Szyszkowski.

The bishop funded the church as a votum to God since Kielce was spared from a plague that ravished upon the Lesser Poland at a beginning of the XVIIth century. Saint Charles Borromeo was chosen as the patron saint of the church because of his deeds during an epidemic in Italy. As an archbishop of Milan he didn’t escape from this city as most of the nobles and hierarchs did. On the contrary, he risked his life, took care of poor ones and helped them through dark, uncertain hours. That’s why Bishop of Cracow Szyszkowski, who studied in Italy and heard about Borromeo, brought relics of Saint to Poland and dedicated the church to his name. Soon after this foundation Franciscans Observants, called in Poland Bernardines, were invited there and the place was a home to this order for over two hundreds years.

Church oriented by rock and a unique figure

Interesting fact about this church is that its chancel is not placed in the East. That was a common practice while building Christian churches until the XVIIIth century. But limestone on Karczówka made it difficult to do it in that manner. That is why we can say that Saint Carol Boromeo church is “oriented by rock” with the chancel in the West and an entrance in the East. However, it was the Italian archbishop himself who gave general instructions that the East-West orientation was not so important after all. So maybe it’s another form of a tribute to the Saint. We cannot tell if for sure.

There is one precious and unique object in the monastery that is hard to find anywhere else in the world. It is a statue of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners. What makes it so special? The material the figure is made of is galenite, lead sulphide. It’s not used by sculptors because it’s quite fragile and hard to handle with a chisel. Yet an artist who created Barbara did it with a lot of finesse and it is, arguably, one the most beautiful statues of Polish Baroque in the XVIIth century.

Karczówka and the old mines

And why the patron saint of miners is placed in the church’s chapel? It’s because Karczówka and surrounding hills were places of exploration of galenite. There are many remnants of those old mines and techniques of mining which were called “following the ore”.

Solutions of lead from the Earth’s interior moved up to the surface and usually gathered in seismic faults in limestone. Once such a fault was found, the miners removed all metal from it as you see in a picture. There is a niche there made by human hands seeking for galenite. By following the fault they followed precious ore, hence the name of this technique.

The Świętokrzyskie province was also known for its copper mines, but most notably, iron ones. This metal was mined and then melted even in ancient times in disposable furnaces called bloomeries. The Polish name for such furnace is “dymarka” from a word “dym” meaning smoke.

Karczówka hill is also one of the five preserves in Kielce and there is a beautiful view from there on the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. So it’s another reason for many people to walk there and spend some quality time enjoying nature and landscapes.

Saint Rosalia cult in Świętokrzyskie

Borromeo is not the only patron saint, people were seeking help from during the plague. In the province we can visit many chapels, shrines, and churches dedicated to Saint Rosalia from Palermo who is also considered a shield against contagious diseases.

One of the most known place dedicated to her is the grotto of Saint Rosalia in forests of the Oblęgorskie mountain range where in Triassic sandstone we can enter a chapel while trekking through the Świętokrzyskie mountains. The grotto is a reference to life of Rosalia who used to hide in a similar cavern.

Another example of her cult is a XIXth century wooden shrine in a village Bieliny known for three other wooden shrines that preserved to this day. The’re dedicated to Saints Mary, Barbara and John of Nepomuuk.

Near a quarry Zachełmie where traces of the oldest tetrapod were found, we can visit Saints Rosalia and Martin Church. Although built in XVIIth century it was later rebuilt and, for instance, a modern characteristic dome was added.

When basic rules of hygiene weren’t known and understanding of sources of diseases was poor, those were places and customs rooted deep in religion and folklore that for many centuries helped people find some beacon of hope during outbreaks of Black Death, cholera or influenza.

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