Ćmielów

Ćmielów
Ćmielów
	Ruins of Ćmielów Castle
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Ćmielów
	Coordinates: 50°53′25″N 21°30′53″E / 50.89028°N 21.51472°E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Świętokrzyskie
County	Ostrowiec
Gmina	Ćmielów
	Area
• Total	13.21 km2 (5.10 sq mi)
	Population (2006)
• Total	3,172
• Density	240/km2 (620/sq mi)
Postal code	27–440
Website	http://www.cmielow.pl/

Ćmielów [ˈt͡ɕmʲɛluf] ( listen) is a town in Ostrowiec County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, seat of Gmina Ćmielów. It has 3,222 inhabitants (2004). It is known for one of Poland's oldest porcelain factories dating back to 1790. The town history dates back to 14th century. It has several tourist attractions, in addition to its old porcelain factory, including ruins of a 16th century castle and a church from the same period.

Ćmielów belongs to Lesser Poland, and lies on the Sandomierz Upland, 10 kilometers east of Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, along local road nr. 755, on the Kamienna river.

First mention of the village comes from the 14th century. In 1388, brothers Marcin and Mikolaj of Baruchow sold the village and the castle to knight Gniewosz of Dalewice. In 1425 Ćmielów was bought by Jan of Podlodow, then the village was acquired by the noble Szydlowiecki family. At that time what today is Ćmielów was divided into two villages - Ćmielów itself, located in the vicinity of the castle, and nearby Szydlow. Both villages were merged in 1505, when in Radom, King Aleksander Jagiellonczyk granted town charter to the town of Ćmielów. The new town remained in the hands of the Szydlowiecki family, which turned it into one of their residences. Kanclerz Krzysztof Szydlowiecki invested in the castle, making it a Renaissance palace (1519-1531). In 1606, Ćmielów passed into the hands of the Ostrogski family.

Prosperity of the town came to an end during the deluge. On April 12, 1657, Swedish and Transilvanian armies met here, and the castle was the temporary residence of George II Rakoczi. United armies of the two powers destroyed most of Lesser Poland, together with Ćmielów. In the 18th century the town belonged to several families (Lubomirski family, Malachowski family, Puslowski family), and in 1896 - to Prince Aleksander Drucki - Lubecki. Some time in the 18th century Ćmielów emerged as a center of pottery. In 1750, King August III Sas issued a privilege to local artisans, allowing them to sell their products across the country. The privilege was confirmed in 1768, and either in 1804 or 1809, Count Jacek Malachowski opened here a porcelain manufactory.

Following the example of other towns of northern Lesser Poland, Ćmielów, which after the Partitions of Poland belonged to Russian-controlled Congress Poland lost its town charter in 1869, as a punishment for the January Uprising. In 1915 it got a rail station, along a route from Skarzysko-Kamienna to Sandomierz. Ćmielów regained its town charter in 1962.

Among points of interest there are the ruins of the castle, parish church (first built in the late 14th century), roadside chapel (1850s), and St. Florian figure.