Łysa Góra (Holy Cross Mountain / Bald Mountain)

Łysa Góra, also called Bald Mountain and often associated with the Benedictine site name Święty Krzyż (Holy Cross), is the second‑highest peak of the Świętokrzyskie range, listed at about 595 metres elevation. The mountain's summit and slopes contain archaeological remains described as the ruins of a pagan wall (attributed to the 9th century), the medieval Benedictine monastery established in the 11th century (famous regionally for its relics of the Holy Cross Tree), hiking trails, and modern installations such as the Święty Krzyż TV Tower. The site occupies an important place in regional cultural memory because of the juxtaposition of pre‑Christian archaeological features and the prominent Christian monastery. In local legend and popular accounts Łysa Góra "features prominently" as a traditional meeting place for witches' sabbaths; this motif appears in guide and folkloric treatments of the mountain and in online retellings. The supplied sources do not record specific eyewitness accounts, named supernatural entities, dates for alleged meetings, or documented paranormal investigations. Scholars and popular writers treating the site have suggested — or implied in titles and summaries — that the mountain's pagan associations and long history of sacred use contributed to its reputation as a locus of witchcraft in folklore. The available materials frame the witches' sabbath theme as part of the mountain's folkloric identity rather than as a documented contemporary phenomenon.