Częstochowa

Częstochowa, city in southern Poland, on the Warta River. Częstochowa, a major industrial city, is joined by rail with Kraków. The principal manufactures include iron and steel, textiles, and paper, and a trade in religious articles is centered here. The Jasna Góra monastery (14th century) was a stronghold for Polish forces resisting Swedish invasions in the 17th and early 18th centuries; it contains a noted painting of the Virgin Mary called the Black Madonna. The monastery was visited in 1979 by Pope John Paul II. Population (2005 estimate) 247,400.