The city, surrounded by a region rich in many raw materials (iron, copper, lead ores) was developing as the capital of an industrial and agricultural region. The middle of the 17th century saw the erection of two magnificent buildings in Kielce - the monastery on Karczowka hill and the Bishops' Palace in the French Renaissance style, which remained until today as the beautiful monument of manneristic and baroque architecture. In the middle of the 18th century there were four thousand inhabitants and in the city centre numerous stone buildings, such as tenement houses in Rynek, were built. In 1789 after the nationalization of the Bishops' properties, Kielce became a state city granted the right to choose representatives to Seym (Diet). In the 18th century a brewery, brickyard, riding school, st. Leonard's church hospital, high school and theological seminary were established. After the third partition of Poland the city went under the Austrian rule and in 1809 became a part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. After 1815 Kielce shared the fate of other territories included in the Congress Kingdom of Poland, becoming for some time the capital of the Cracov province. Together with the establishment of the Old Polish Industrial Region, as well as many coal mines, smelting works, industrial factories, Kielce also became the site of the first technical high school - the Mining Academy. Since the Kosciuszko Insurrection, Kielce took an active part in all national uprisings and struggles for independence. It was in Kielce where the famous plot organized by the priest Piotr Sciegienny took place in 1844. In 1905 the city joined a national school strike as well as various demonstrations and workers' strikes. In August 1914 Kielce became the first capital in independent Poland. The Rifles Detachment of Jozef Pilsudski marched into the city and the Polish Legiontook it over within three weeks. In 1919, in free Poland the Kielce province was created. Industrial, cultural and educational boom characterized the city in the first decades of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the process was cruelly stopped by the outbreak of the Second World War. During the German occupation every third city inhabitant was killed. In spite of that, Kielce managed to stay one of the strongest centres of resistance movement with numerous underground organizations. In January 1945 the city was liberated from the German occupation by the Red Army soldiers.
Contemporary Kielce is the city of 215 thousand inhabitants situated in the middle of Poland and surrounded by the oldest mountains in Europe - the Swietokrzyskie Mountains. It is the capital of one of the biggest provinces in Poland. The exploitation of raw materials, such as iron, copper and lead ores as well as marbles and sandstones, has been the basis of industrial development of the city since the 15th century. Kielce's favourable situation (the distance to the biggest metropolies such as Warsaw, Lodz, Katowice, Cracow, Lublin is not longer than 200 kilometres), availability of limestone, gypsum, brimstone, dolomite, marl and mineral waters, qualified working force, numerous high schools and colleges, development of business and trade centres, sports airport - they all make the city very attractive.
