Zygmuntówka quarry

What connects the Świętokrzyskie Mountains with the center of Warsaw? There are certainly many common threads, and you will find one of them in the closed quarry in Czerwona Góra.

The very name of this extraordinary place can tell a lot. The quarry is colloquially called "Zygmuntówka", because it was from here that a block of rock was excavated in the 17th century, which served as the first core of the famous Sigismund's Column in Warsaw.

The transport of the material to the capital was an extremely complicated logistical operation - the rock was transported near the Nida River, from where it reached Warsaw by water across the Vistula River. Unfortunately, Zygmunt's first column did not stand the test of time. The rock was too sensitive to external factors and quickly eroded.

Currently, the statue of Sigismund III Vasa stands on the third column in a row. However, you will still see the first of them while walking around the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

Now the question may arise, what is so special about the rocks mined in this quarry that such an important monument was made of it? Well, it is an extremely decorative and unique material, called Zlepieniec Zygmuntowski, technical marble or, somewhat jokingly, Świętokrzyskie brawn.

From a geological point of view, the conglomerate from Zygmuntówka is the result of the destruction of Devonian rocks, which formed mountain massifs millions of years ago. The peaks were subject to destruction - weathering and erosion. Small fragments of rock got to the foot of the hills. These crumbs were then smoothed and surrounded by a carbonate binder with an admixture of iron, giving the rock a characteristic red color.

The quarry functioned even in the 1990s. Today, this place is visited by both geology and Polish history enthusiasts.