The urban layout of Ciężkowice
Monuments
The town situated picturesquely upon the Biała river, among the hills of Pogórze, established by King Casimir the Great. In the 14th century, Ciężkowice was a large centre of broadcloth and linen manufacturing. On the marketsquare, the wooden houses with characteristics arcades and the Town Hall are preserved. It is worth to visit the natural history museum presenting a collection of birds, insects and hunting trophies. Near the centre of Ciężkowice, there is the “Petrified Town”, one of the most interesting inanimate nature reserves in the Carpathians. The urban layout of Ciężkowice has retained its medieval character. The town is arranged on a rectangular plan, with a large market square in the centre with dimensions 130 x 100 m.
A pair of streets leads off from each corner of the market square, and the town hall, dating from the turn of the C19th, stands in the middle. The terraced frontage of the square has retained its one-storey houses, with arcades supported by decorated columns. The oldest of these date from the middle of the C19th. Not far from the square is the Church of Christ the Merciful and St. Andrew from 1901-02, designed by J. Sas-Zubrzycki, with a wonderful baroque painting of Christ the Merciful.
