Description

Nowa Słupia

The town is located at the foot of Łysa Góra, halfway between Kielce and Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. This town, together with the adjoining village of Rudki is considered the cradle of metallurgy in the Świętokrzyskie region. The ancient “ironworks” started producing iron in the 2nd and 1st century BC and reached the height of development in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The traces of ancient furnaces - bloomeries i.e.  single-use furnaces for smelting of iron, can be seen at the Mieczysław Radwan Museum of Ancient Mettalurgy in Nowa Słupia. 300 thousand bloomeries have been discovered in this region. The furnace is made of clay with added chaff and filled with alternating layers of ore and charcoal. Bellows were also used in the smelting process. This method was brought to the foothills of the Łysogóry mountain range by the Celts. The smelting of such large quantities of iron was possible thanks to the existence of rich iron ore deposits in this area. The museum, located at the foothills of the Świętokrzyski National Park is accompanied by the famous “Pilgrim” also known as “Emeryk” - a statue cast in stone, whose origin and date of creation are a mystery.