CZENSTOCHOVA, or TSCHENSTOCHOW, OLD and NEW, two small contiguous towns of Poland, in the circle of the same name and the government of Piotrkov, on the left bank of the Warta, 130 miles S.W. of Warsaw, and on the railway between that city and Cracow. Population of the two (1867), 14,167. The towns derive their importance from a celebrated monastery situated on the eminence called the Jasno Gura above them. This monastery, which is sin-rounded by a small fortress, has a fine church with a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, containing a famous and much-venerated picture of the mother of Christ, which according to legend was painted by St Luke. Pilgrims from all parts of Poland visit the shrine in large numbers. In 1655 the monastery withstood a siege by the Swedes in the War of Succession, and another by the Russian troops in 1771, during the War of Independence.