The Rock Garden of the Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University—A New Geo-Site in Kielce, Central Poland

Abstract

The Rock Garden, established in 2019, is a geological showcase of both the Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce and the entire Kielce region in central Poland. The collection includes specimens of about 50 rocks: those whose outcrops are located in the Holy Cross Mountains region and those brought here from Scandinavia by the ice sheet around 180 to 130 thousand years ago. The Rock Garden is of scientific importance and plays a didactic, conservational, educational, cultural, aesthetic, recreational, and geotouristic role. This article highlights its importance in the development of urban geotourism.

Keywords

• rock garden
• geoheritage
• geotourism
• Kielce region
• central Poland