Kielce

Kielce is the largest city of the Holy Cross Voivodeship (Województwo Świętokrzyskie) with a population just under 200,000 residents (2018). It is also its capital.

Understand

Its history dates back to the 10th century. In 1364 Kielce was recognised as a city and gained certain privileges connected with this legal status. In 1496 Kielce was conferred its coat of arms by the Fryderyk cardinal Jagiellończyk, Polish prince and primate, serving as a bishop in Kraków.

The history of Kielce is rich in important events for the history of Poland. For example here, in 1816, the first Polish higher technical university was organised. It was free of charge and had two teaching languages: Polish and German. The Kielce pogrom resulted in the deaths of 40 Jewish Holocaust survivors and another 80 injured nearly a year after the final Nazi death camp was liberated. The antecedence of the pogrom are still not clear and many hypotheses are still being considered.

Get in

By plane

There is an international airport in the near town of Kraków Kraków-Balice Airport (KRK IATA), but more flights go from Warsaw: Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW IATA): For those travelling from Warsaw serviced by Polski Express. See also: Routes/Timetable

By train

Kielce is despite its size and central location not very well connected to the national train network. The 🌍 Kielce rail station is conveniently located in the city centre.

Travel time varies depending on the class of train, with the shortest time needed to get to Kielce from other major destinations being:

You can check train timetables in English at

By car

You can easily get there by car from Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź.

By bus

The 🌍 Kielce bus station has a distinct design and architecture from it's original design in the 1970s. Many locals call the building "The UFO". The station had a major renovation and reopend again in 2020.

Many international connections (see Poland::By bus).

See
  • 🌍 Palace of the Kraków Bishops (Pałac Biskupów Krakowskich), plac Zamkowy 1, ☏ +48 41 344 40 15. May-Aug: Tu-Su 10:00—18:00, M closed; Sep-Apr: Tu-Su 09:00—17:00, M closed. The palace is the most important branch of the National Museum in Kielce. 20 zł regular, 12 zł reduced. (updated Jun 2022)

Do
  • Football: Korona Kielce were promoted in 2022 so they now play soccer in Ekstraklasa, the top tier. Their home ground (capacity 15,700) is Stadion Miejski or Suzuki Arena, 1 km south of city centre.
  • Sienkiewicza Street
  • Forest Alleys

Buy

Sleep

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