Końskie

Końskie () is a town in south-central Poland, with 20,328 inhabitants (2008), situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Historically, Końskie has belonged to the region of Lesser Poland and, from its foundation until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, was part of Lesser Poland Province's Sandomierz Voivodeship.

==History== thumb|left|upright=0.85|Romanesque tympanum above the south side door of the Gothic St. Nicholas & St. Adalbert parish church The oldest settlement which is now Końskie dates back to the 11th century. The burial ground from this period was discovered in the north part of the town in 1925. Końskie was mentioned in historical sources in 1124 for the first time, with Prandota of Prandocin (the progenitor of Odrowąż family) recorded as the owner of the settlement. For the next few centuries, the settlement was owned by the Odrowąż family. Iwo Odrowąż, the bishop of Kraków, founded a parish and built a church dedicated to St. Nicholas in 1220–1224. The church was torn down in the 15th century and a new Gothic one was built in its place in the years 1492–1520. Some elements of the older Romanesque church were saved in the new one (e.g. the Romanesque tympanum, pictured). Końskie received city rights from King Augustus III of Poland on December 30, 1748. It was a private town, administratively located in the Żarnów County in the Sandomierz Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province. The Polish 14th Cuirassier Regiment was formed in Końskie by Stanisław Małachowski in 1809.