The best family-friendly hikes and walks around gmina Żarnów

A small town with a lot of history, I recommend it to everyone, lots of walking and cycling paths

The area around Żarnów was the site of fierce fighting during World War I and II. Partisan units that fought the Germans also operated in this area. The town's Jewish community was resettled to the Opoczno ghetto, from where it was transported to the German extermination camp in Treblinka. After the end of World War II, Żarnów was located in the Topolice commune (until 1954). After the administrative reform of 1975, the town was located in the Piotrków Voivodeship. In 1998, the neighboring villages of Tresta Wesoła and Drobna Wieś were incorporated into the town.

In 1655, one of the largest battles took place near Żarnów, which, like the entire war, ended in defeat for the Republic. The destruction of the "Swedish Deluge" was completed by epidemics that plagued the town in the following centuries. A short-term economic recovery took place only at the end of the 19th century and was associated with the Old Polish Industrial Region, which included the area around Żarnów due to its rich mineral resources. However, the decree of Tsar Nicholas II of June 1, 1869, taking away the town rights of this center, caused it to lose its importance.

The city was probably founded on the site of a trading settlement. In 1111, a temple was built by Bolesław Krzywousty, as a votive offering for victories in Pomerania. The building was rebuilt several times, but fragments of Romanesque architecture have been preserved in the structure of today's temple. During the period of the first Piasts, the castellany of Żarnów, together with the castellanies in Sieradz, Łęczyca, Spicymierz, Rozprza, Ruda, Małogoszcz and Skrzynno, formed the province of Łęczyca. In 1239, the castellanies located on the right bank of the Pilica were incorporated into the Duchy of Sandomierz, which was part of Lesser Poland. Żarnów received a location privilege under Środa law from Casimir the Great around 1360. Then Władysław Jagiełło granted the city Magdeburg law in 1415. From that moment on, Żarnów began to flourish, mainly due to its good communication location. Numerous privileges of subsequent rulers concerning trade spheres resulted in the city gaining a significant position in the grain trade. The end of the city's development was connected with the Swedish-Polish war.

The parish is one of the oldest in the diocese, founded around 1191.

Church of St. Nicholas - Roman Catholic parish church belonging to the Żarnów deanery of the Radom diocese. Church before 1913 The first mention of the temple comes from 1191. Originally, it was a Romanesque, single-nave building, expanded in 1503 (a late Gothic presbytery was added at that time). After a fire in 1893, the church was expanded according to the design of Stefan Szyller. The original temple is currently the transverse nave of the current one. Partially preserved fragments of walls and Romanesque and Gothic details. To this day, the western bay of the nave with the gallery, the round tower added to it, and fragments of the walls of the northern and southern naves added to the presbytery have survived. The side walls of the nave are decorated with Romanesque pilasters (including two decorated with acanthus leaf and fantastic animal motifs). There is a Romanesque window in the northern wall. On the stone walls of the older part of the building, inscriptions dedicated to people who renovated the church are scratched into the stone. They include the inscription "Matki Skórko 1595". The interior of the church features, among other things, a spiral stone staircase, three pointed arch windows in the Gothic style with tracery. The presbytery was built on a rectangular plan and is covered with three bays of a star vault[2].