Szydłów[2][3][4] [ˈʂɨdwuf] is a fortified town in Staszów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland.

The town contains several tourist attractions, including several buildings and churches dating to the 14th century and the ruins of a castle from the same period, and the 16th-century Szydłów Synagogue.

At that time, the village was owned by Polish Kings, located along the Vistula merchant road, which was of major importance in the late Middle Ages.

In the mid-14th century, King Casimir III the Great founded here a fortified castle and the Church of Saint Ladislaus.

Unable to enter the fortified town, the mercenaries set the suburbs on fire, and the blaze reached Szydłów.

In 1789, Szydłów had a stone town hall, 5 mills on the Ciekąca river and 196 houses, many of them abandoned.

After the Polish victory in the Austro-Polish War of 1809, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw, within which it became a county seat.

In 1869, as a punishment for participation of residents in the January Uprising, Szydłów was reduced to the status of a village.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Szydłów was occupied by Germany until 1945.

In 1940, Germans forced Jews from other towns in the region into Szydłów, doubling the Jewish population.