Strzegowa

Address:

Strzegowa

GPS:

50° 25' 34.1184" N 19° 42' 22.2768" E

At the edge of the Olkusz district, at its northern border lies the village Strzegowa. Located on the road connecting Wolbrom  and Pilica, it was mentioned in documents already in 1398, where the priest John of Strzegowa is mentioned. The Village from the beginning belonged to the Pilica estates. It is worth mentioning  that at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in this region, a strong defense system functioned, which included the castle in Smoleń, unfinished  fortifications on  the Skały Zegarowe rocks, the supposed fortified tower on Mount Biśnik and the castle on Mount Greodzisko. In the fifteenth century on Strzegowa, a brick Gothic church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was built. It was, expanded in the eighteenth century and adorned in the baroque style. In the sixteenth century  silver and iron ore were excavated in the local mines. In the years 1939 to 1945 in the vast forests around Strzegowa operated one of the most powerful partisan groups. The village and its area lie in the Wodąca valley, which is one of the most attractive scenic parts of the “Orle Gniazda” Jurassic Park. This area is part of the Smoleńsk-Niegowonicz line of hills, crossed by numerous dry valleys.

Hikers will love  the Jaskinia Jasna  cave located near the village. Actually, there are two separate caves. The first is a large chamber with holes in the ceiling. In its western part is is a rambling the corridor winding steeply upward. A little further, a tunnel with a  partially collapsed ceiling leads to the second cave called Lisie Jamy. Almost all of the cave is sunlit- hence the name. The cave has been known and visited for a long time. The first archaeological excavations were carried out in the early twentieth century. On the rocky bottom the remains of fauna (including the cave bear)  were found, as well as materials from the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. The finds from the Upper Paleolithic (30 thousand. BC), were linked by scientists to the Aurignacian culture.
Source: District Office in Olkusz