Where to Stay in Będzin, Silesian Voivodeship

What is Będzin known for?

A stone Gothic castle, raised by a great Polish king to guard the border, stands on a hill above the Czarna Przemsza river, and below it lie the old town, historic churches, and the traces of a large Jewish community lost in the war, in the coal country of southern Poland. Old tunnels run under the streets. Castle and coal mark the town.

What are the main landmarks in Będzin?

The castle crowns the hill above Będzin. The stone Gothic keep and its round tower, built by Casimir the Great, look out over the town, the emblem of the city, on the Trail of the Eagles' Nests. Old churches ring the square.

The medieval parish church and the palaces of the old town stand below the walls, while the Jewish cemetery on the hillside keeps the memory of the lost community.

What is the history of Będzin?

Będzin grew up under a royal castle. In the fourteenth century Casimir the Great built a stone castle here on the hill, one of a chain that guarded Poland's border toward Silesia, and a town grew below the walls on the trade road. Merchants and craftsmen filled its streets.

Będzin won town rights and market days, and Jews and Poles settled side by side, so that the town became a busy market of the borderland. Coal made the modern town. When great seams of coal were found in the Zagłębie basin, mines and mills rose around Będzin, and the town swelled with workers drawn from the countryside.

War fell hard on the town. In the last great war the large Jewish community of Będzin was destroyed, and only the old cemetery and a few marks remain, while the medieval castle was restored above the streets. The castle still crowns the hill.

Będzin keeps its castle and its old town in the Zagłębie.

Where is Będzin?

Będzin lies in the Zagłębie basin of southern Poland, on the Czarna Przemsza river. The town sits among low hills at the edge of the great Silesian coalfield, where the Kraków uplands fall toward the mining country, northeast of Katowice. Wooded hills rise around.

The river winds through the town.

What is the climate of Będzin?

The weather over Będzin's castle hill is temperate and continental. Warm summers and cold, snowy winters cross the uplands, and rain falls through the year on the hills, with frost and grey skies common in the cold months. Snow lies on the hills in winter.

The basin air turns sharp in the cold.

How do you get to Będzin?

Będzin lies just northeast of Katowice in the Zagłębie basin. Trains and trams run to it from Katowice and the cities of the coalfield, and roads cross the basin to Kraków and Częstochowa. Buses reach the mining towns around.

Most arrive by tram or road from Katowice.