The Madonna of Chustki brings together a specific cultural landmark and an unusual historical account. Chustki can also be included as an optional stop on an approximately 30-kilometre cycling or ski tour that starts and ends in Szydłowiec. Visitors can choose between a visit to the Madonna and a longer route as different focal points.

The Madonna of Chustki: sandstone and local accounts

The Madonna figure dates from 1898 and is carved from local sandstone. During the interwar period, it was a place of veneration and a destination for pilgrimages. The 2011 municipal guide recounts that the Madonna stopped weeping when the Second World War broke out. According to eyewitness accounts, she is said to have wept bloody tears. The Church did not recognize the reported phenomenon as a miracle, and scientific investigations were unable to establish its cause. According to one traditional interpretation, the Madonna was meant to warn people of an impending danger, but her signs were not properly understood. Accounts, the Church’s assessment, and the unresolved question of the cause are therefore different aspects of the same story.

Chustki as a possible stop on a tour

The municipal guide describes an approximately 30-kilometre cycling or ski tour through the valleys of the Korzeniówka and Szabasówka. The route passes through Krzcięcin, Korzyce, Omięcin, Wysoka, the Marianka chapel, and Zdziechów before returning to Szydłowiec. After Zdziechów, Chustki can be included as an optional stop. The village is therefore a possible stop on a tour that starts and ends in Szydłowiec, not its starting point or destination.

For directions to the Madonna, the guide gives the route from Radom towards Szydłowiec: the figure is on the right-hand side of the E77, immediately past the junction with the local road to Zdziechów. The municipal guide dates from 2011; check the current route markings and directions to the figure before setting off.

Cultural highlights in the wider Szydłowiecki destination

In the wider Szydłowiecki destination, Szydłowiec offers another cultural and historical highlight. Stanisław Szydłowiecki had a brick castle built there between 1470 and 1480. It stands on an artificially raised island in the Korzeniówka floodplain. The Muzeum Ludowych Instrumentów Muzycznych (Museum of Folk Musical Instruments) presents its exhibitions in the castle’s chambers, including three permanent exhibitions. Founded in 1968, the museum is considered the world’s first independent museum devoted to folk musical instruments.

The Eksperymentarium Dźwięku (Sound Experimentarium) is also located in one of the castle’s oldest chambers. Visitors can play rare musical instruments and create digital compositions there. The sandstone tradition is another feature of Szydłowiec: quarrying and stoneworking there have a history of more than 600 years, and the Church of St. Sigismund is built from local sandstone. Together with the sandstone figure in Chustki, this offers another cultural perspective on the wider destination, alongside the story surrounding the Madonna.

Discover more destinations: Ostałówek, Sulistrowice, Chlewiska, Szydłowiec, Jastrząb.

To the wider travel overview: Szydłowiecki.