Wooden chapel and spring water of St. Francis in Święta Katarzyna

When you start your journey to Łysica in Święta Katarzyna, after a short time, among a fir and beech forest, you will find a forest clearing with benches on both sides.

It is a good place to rest and learn about one of the many legends of the Świętokrzyskie region. In the middle of the clearing, there is a Saint Francis spring, from which the water, for the convenience of tourists, was captured in an artificial mouth covered with a wooden roof. If local stories are to be believed, the water from here is not only drinkable, but also has healing properties, especially in the case of eye diseases.

How was the spring created? Legend has it that there used to be a castle on the top of Łysica, where two sisters lived. The arrival of the knight changed a lot in their peaceful lives. The struggle for the young man's heart led to a tragedy - the castle fell into ruin, burying a man and one of the sisters. The second, seeing what had been caused by her sisterly disputes, sat down on stone blocks and wept bitterly. There were so many tears that they still feed the spring today.

The ruins of the castle, however, are nothing more than a barren hill that you will find at the top of Łysica. Coming back to the spring ... it is surrounded by a shallow well surrounded by a wooden fence on a stone foundation. The linden trees growing nearby can be seen in the surface of the spring. Bubbles of gas escaping from time to time appear on the surface of the water. The spring has a constant water temperature and never freezes. Above the well there is a wooden chapel with a porch supported by 4 pillars. The front is decorated with a niche with a figure of the patron. Throughout the openwork days, you will see a modest altar with the image of Saint Francis.