Petrified City is a nature reserve created in 1974. It covers an area of 15 hectares. The rocks that constitute the main object of protection are distributed on the Skała hill (367 m above sea level). According to legend, it is a former town that was turned into stone – as punishment for the knight Cieszek breaking the rules of Polish hospitality. The rock formations in the reserve began to form around 60 million years ago at the bottom of the Tethys Ocean. At the tourist information point, you can buy Ciężkowice Gingerbread (‘Piernik Ciężkowicki’), the origin of which is linked to a local legend. The legend says that a Hermit that survived in Cieszek’s gord won forgiveness for the world through prayer and fasting. He took a vow: on every Friday, he was to completely abstain from food, remain silent, and pray for the entire day. It was on that day of the week that his cottage was visited by a devil, who could not accept the fact that the hermit had not turned to stone. He tempted him in vain with a beautiful girl and also with gold. This went on until the devil discovered that the hermit’s weakness was his sweet tooth. So, he prepared a plate of gingerbread cookies. When the hermit found them, he threw them into a rose bush. The devil could not bear this defeat and began to trample the gingerbread along with the rose blossoms out of rage. After the whole incident, the hermit picked up a piece of a cookie with crushed petals and ate it, thus breaking his fasting vow.  For this, he and his hermitage were turned to rock. One version of this legend says that an angel arrived then and freed the hermit from his stone prison, turning him into a bat so that he could fly out through a crevice.