The best traffic-free bike rides in Rezerwat Diabla Góra

In 1964, a chapel was organized in Machory with its own clergy, but employed by the parish in Żarnów. Officially, Bishop Edward Materski erected the local parish on September 1, 1989. He entrusted the rectory to Father Marian Strzałkowski. The parish church was built thanks to the efforts of Fathers Kazimierz Kasprzyk, Leopold Łabędzki and Jan Mazurkiewicz. The last renovation works were carried out in 2008. At that time, a document from the beginning of the 20th century was found, which informs about the foundation of an altar and a manor chapel by a local heir of German nationality, Mr. Bayer. This altar was moved to the parish church.

In 1782, castellan Jacek Jezierski of the Nowina coat of arms purchased the Maleniec estate, located near Końskie in the Old Polish Basin, from Prażmowski for half a million złoty. There were rich deposits of iron ore on their territory, while in neighboring Miedzierza a blast furnace was already in operation at that time. Jezierski intended to develop industrial production on the purchased estate, linking his plans to the project of the Four-Year Sejm, which passed a resolution to increase the size of the Polish army to 100,000. In 1784, the castellan dammed the waters of the Czarna River flowing through Maleniec and created a pond with an area of 16 ha that exists to this day. The water was to be a source of energy for the planned plants and workshops. With the help of water outlets, it later became - thanks to water wheels - a source of energy for the mill, sawmill and fryery built by Jezierski. In neighboring Kawęczyn, the castellan also built a blast furnace. Production activity in Maleniec was interrupted in 1794 due to military operations during the Kościuszko Uprising. In 1824, the property was acquired by a former officer of Napoleon's army, Tadeusz Bocheński, who settled in Maleniec, introducing a number of innovations in local factories and significantly expanding production potential. The current building of the preserved plant, housing the museum, was erected around 1837 on the initiative of Bocheński, who additionally built a puddling shop and a rolling mill in neighboring Ruda Maleniecka. On June 21, 1967, the complex was officially recognized as a technical monument and entered under item number 340 in the register of monuments of the then Kielce province. A year later, a group of students from the Faculty of Metallurgy of the Silesian University of Technology became interested in the abandoned facility. Their activities led to the signing of an agreement in 1970, under which the plant was transferred to the care of the university. Actions were initiated to save the facility, which included preparing documentation of the facility, repairing parts of the machines and equipment, and buildings.

In 1898, on the premises of the former ironworks, the then owner Ludwik Bayer opened a tile and cardboard factory, one of the most important in the Russian partition. Tiles were made using white clay extracted in Makhory, in a mine that had existed since the 19th century, and marl imported from various parts of Poland. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the factory employed around 200 workers. The plant had its own sales warehouses in Warsaw, Łódź, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa. In the initial years of production, ceramic stove tiles from the Makhory factory delighted with their various decorations. Patterns depicting genre and historical scenes were also produced. Makhory products enjoyed popularity throughout the Russian Empire (they were used to cover stoves at all stations of the Trans-Siberian Railway), all the way to Vladivostok. In the interwar years, a generator was installed in the factory, which supplied electricity to the plant and the manor buildings. It was powered by a Francis water turbine that had previously powered rolling mills. These devices operated until 1970. The remains of the tile and paper mill complex include factory buildings (without the original equipment) and a well-preserved drive system of the plant, together with the water damming and supply system.

Leon Milak was a taxi driver from Żarnów who died tragically on November 20, 1972 in a bomb attack in Maleniec, in the Końskie district. He was known in the local community as the owner of a red Warszawa with the word "taxi" written on it, which he used to drive residents of the area. Milak had a happy family and ambitious plans, including building a brickyard to help Żarnów develop after the devastation of war and the difficult years of the Polish People's Republic. On the day of the attack, he was booked for a ride by his neighbor and friend, Tadeusz W. On the way, they also picked up a woman, Danuta K. On a wooden bridge in Maleniec, the passenger detonated an explosive charge, killing everyone in the car - Leon Milak, Danuta K. and himself. Milak died on the way to the hospital. The tragedy shocked the local community and Milak's family, who still remember the event. In 2022, on the 50th anniversary of the attack, a plaque commemorating the victims of this tragedy was unveiled on the premises of the Historic Metallurgical Plant in Maleniec

A very nice place for a moment of rest by the lake :)

A very nice museum. Old steelworks and industrial plant powered by a water mill. For organized groups, machines are started, so if you organize a larger group, it is worth making an appointment :)