Tour no. 2

Local Action Group „Around the Łysa Góra mountain”
If you want to taste the flavors of Świętokrzyskie villages and experience their cultural wealth, you cannot omit the places and ideas created with passion by people living in the heart of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains.
By participating in this tour, we will have a chance to meet people who create attractive products of rural tourism, based on the unique traditions, natural and cultural resources of the villages of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Amid the tales told by people met during the trip, we will learn what a mysterious "zarzucajka" is, we will come to know the folk and artisinal traditions of the region and we will see how to make a motanka doll, which is traditional for Slavic culture.
Main topics:
- tourism development
- job creation
- local products

Tourist trail in the Bodzentyn municipality: Mountains by nature
In 2019, the Culture and Tourism Center in Bodzentyn alongside the Świętokrzyskie Weavers Association and CEMI Regional Ceramics Studio, in alliance with the Kielce-Ostrowiec Social Economy Support Centre, created Mountains by Nature - a tourist trail for enthusiasts of nature, healthy lifestyle and weaving traditions of Świętokrzyskie villages as well as gourmets of local cuisine.

The trip will allow us to get to know three places along the titular trail, welcoming their guests with everything that makes up the cultural treasures of the Świętokrzyskie rural areas.  

"On the Hill" - a farm that welcomes its guests with the taste of tradition and cordial atmosphere. You can feel the climate of Świętokrzyskie countryside here and buy or make yourself the magical "Motanka Doll". A visit to the farm gives you the opportunity to learn about many interesting customs connected to linen. The farm offers food tasting and the possibility of buying delicious preserves.

Educational farmstead "On the Hill" has marked its presence on the map of the region since 2002. This place, apart from performing an agritourism function, regularly conducts educational workshops on topics strongly related to the region. Here we will learn the methods to make motanki dolls, create one ourselves and, using traditional tools, we will bake bread of our own production. As they emphasize, the owners try to save from oblivion the customs which played a very important role in daily life of our grandmothers and people living in this region We would like  you to experience an extraordinary adventure of a lifetime with us, taking a journey into the magical world of motanki dolls and weaving.

Linen Haven - a farm run by the idea of reviving weaving traditions in the Bodzentyn municipality initiator. A place created on the initiative of a group known as Weavers from Łysica.
This place provides an opportunity to familiarise yourselves with the authentic instruments used in traditional weaving work so strongly related to Bodzentyn municipality. The exhibition of kilims and tablecloths produced in the former weaving mill will present the extensive experience of weavers from Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. You can start your weaving adventure here, trying the original yeast cake in the meantime.

Guesthouse Marysieńka - it is located in the heart of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, in the Święta Katarzyna village. Here you can discover the secrets of home cooking. Ms. Marysia offers delicious regional cuisine, based on natural, fresh products from local farmers, to her guests. Zalewajki Świętokrzyskie, based on products from local fields, with sauerkraut and bare just with bacon, are served to the visitors, presenting all the best Świętokrzyskie cuisine has to offer.

The Center for Creative Development and Horse Tourism, "Ignacówka.".
Support from the RDP funds, combined with a passion for art and love for horses, was the origin of creating a center that allows guests not only to explore the secrets of equestrianism, but also to experience artistic craftsmanship in many of its forms - from painting and creating clay plaster casts to throwing on a pottery wheel.

Ignacówka's offer includes:
I. Artistic workshops
- clay sculpture classes,
- making plaster casts
- pottery wheel classes
- painting and drawing course.
The center has a very well-equipped ceramic workshop, including: a pottery wheel, ceramic materials and glazes, and a professional furnace in which all the crafts are kilned.

II. Horse riding classes
In the Center, there are three horses prepared for work with children and adults starting their equestrian adventure.
Besides the obvious benefits of exploring the secrets of equestrianism, you can also learn how to interact with horses and take proper care of them. Learn the principles of handling these wonderful animals, find out how to prepare them for riding, how to adjust the equestrian equipment and how to maintain it.

III. Horse expeditions
A very interesting proposition are also themed horse trips combined with visiting attractive places and meeting intriguing people from our region.
In the current financial perspective, LAGs in Poland had to allocate at least 50% of the budget to job creation, for example by setting up new companies. One of the examples is The Center for Creative Development and Horse Tourism "Ignacówka".

The company received PLN 84,000.00 (ca. EUR 18.502,00) from the Local Action Group under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development for the implementation of the project called "Center with a tourist and artistic profile". This funding allowed to create one job.

"Ignacówka" is a partner in the Suchedniów Naturally cooperation project - a network of tourist services, which is implemented by the LAG.