Product Code Database
Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San River, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Province) since its transfer from the Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship in 1999. It is the capital of Sandomierz County. Sandomierz is known for its preserved Old Town, a major cultural and tourist attraction which the President of Poland declared a National Monument of Poland in 2017.
In the past, Sandomierz was one of the most important urban centers not only of Lesser Poland, but also of the whole country. It was a royal city of the Polish Crown and functioned as a regional administrative centre from the High Middle Ages to the 19th century.
In the early 13th century, the second oldest Dominican monastery in Poland (after Kraków) and one of the oldest in Europe was founded in Sandomierz. In the course of the 13th century the city suffered grievous damage during the raids by Mongol Empire in 1241, 1260 and 1287. The old wooden buildings of the town were completely destroyed. As a result, in 1286 the High Duke of Poland Leszek II the Black, effectively refounded the city under Magdeburg Law and granted staple right.Stan Lewicki, Historja handlu w Polsce na tle przywilejów handlowych: (prawo składu), Warszawa 1920, p. 134 (in Polish) The city archives preserve the founding document. (An important note: in 1260, as the Tartars invaded Christian Sandomir, a community of Dominicans was praying Matins while a novice read the martyrology for the next day: "the 49 martyrs of Sandomir". When the friars realized they were being warned of their death, they spent the remainder of the night and all the next day preparing to meet the Lord. At last, after the brethren had finished praying Compline, and as they processed singing the Salve Regina to Mary, the Tartars broke through the church door. While the Tartars intended to bring death to these Dominicans, they actually brought them great gifts - crowns of martyrdom. Ever since, at the death of every Dominican a song to his Beloved Mother is sung to usher him into her arms - the Salve Regina (or Hail, Holy Queen). Blessed Sadoc and Companions "the 49 martyrs of Sandomir" http://www.sistersofmary.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105&Itemid=76
After the re-unification of the Polish lands in the 14th century, the former principality became the Sandomierz Voivodeship, incorporating large areas of southeastern Poland. Until 1474, it was one of two voivodeships (administrative area/province) of Lesser Poland, together with Kraków Voivodeship. In 1474, Lublin Voivodeship was created from eastern part of Sandomierz Voivodeship. At this time Sandomierz had about 3,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest Polish cities. In the middle of the 14th century the city was burned again during a raid by the Lithuanians. It was rebuilt during the rule of king Casimir III of Poland, who extended its privileges. The layout of the city has survived practically unchanged since that time until the present day. In 1389 in Sandomierz the newly appointed prince of the Novgorod Republic, Lithuanian prince Lengvenis, paid homage to Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło, thus making Novgorod a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland.
The early modern period, running until the middle of the 17th century, was quite prosperous for the city. The most important historical buildings were built during this period. This golden age came to an end in 1655 when Swedish Empire forces captured the city in the course of the Deluge. After briefly holding out in the city, the withdrawing Swedes blew up the castle and caused heavy damage to other buildings. In the next 100 years the economy of Poland suffered a decline, which also affected the city. A great fire in 1757 and the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, which placed Sandomierz in Austria, further reduced its status. As a result, Sandomierz lost its role as an administrative capital. In 1774, the oldest extant Polish piano was constructed in Sandomierz. The 3rd Polish National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Sandomierz in 1792.
Fighting of the Austro-Polish War of 1809 caused damage to the city. Following the Polish victory, it became part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw and after 1815 it found itself in the Russian Empire (Congress Poland). At this point the city had just 2640 inhabitants.
The St Paul's Church contains a different series of paintings including one in the chancel, depicting the torment of Jerzy Krassowski who was allegedly strangled by the Jews. Discussion on these pictures has taken place with the participation of the Polish Jewish Community."The Polish Council of Christians and Jews has offered to finance a plaque with explanations of the painting and information about the official statements by various Popes".Poland and the Jews p.199, Stanislaw Krajewski, Kraków 2005 This plaque is now displayed in the St Paul's Church next to the picture in question.
In September 1939, following the German invasion of Poland, the city was occupied by Germany and made part of the General Government. The Polish and Jewish population were subjected to various crimes. Poles who were expelled by the Germans from annexed Złoczew in late 1939 were deported to Sandomierz. Others were conscripted for forced labour and many were sent to labor camps. The largest mass arrests of Poles, including teachers, local officials and activists, were carried out in March 1940. Poles were then held in the local prison and deported to Nazi concentration camps. In June 1940 in Brzask Forest, Germans murdered 760 Poles as part of the German AB-Aktion in Poland directed to exterminate Polish intelligentsia. Bodies were buried in an unnamed mass grave. That was the largest massacre in the Kielce Region. At the same time, the nearby village of Góry Wysokie was the site a massacre of 117 Poles from the region. Despite this, the Polish underground resistance movement was active in Sandomierz, and in late 1940 it even launched a secret printing house in Sandomierz and issued the Polish underground newspaper Odwet, which was also distributed to nearby villages. In March 1942, the Germans carried out mass arrests of around 150 members of the Polish resistance.Gruszczyński, pp. 63–64 Among those arrested was local Polish writer Roman Koseła, one of several Polish writers murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
In May 1942, the Jewish and Polish population were confined to a Nazi ghettos area and hundreds of Jews and Poles from around the region were brought there, increasing the population to more than 5000. In October 1942, about 3,000 prisoners were sent to Bełżec where they were immediately gassed. After that deportation, hundreds of Jews came out of hiding and others were sent to Sandomierz from elsewhere. Now the population was more than 6000 confined to another ghetto where as many as twelve people shared each room and some lived in the streets. Sanitary conditions were horrid and many became ill. Those who reported to the hospital were usually shot after a few days. Some prisoners during this time were sent to labor camps, but in January 1943, the Schutzstaffel and German police, surrounded the ghetto, set some houses on fire and bombed others. They rounded up 7,000 people, send a few hundred to a labor camp, and escorted the rest to the railway station, shooting hundreds en route. The trains took the prisoners to Treblinka where they were murdered by gas the same day. Poles who were not sent to camps were persecuted for helping Jews, some were even imprisoned for barely "transporting Jews illegally".
The city was captured by the Red Army in August 1944. Unlike many Polish cities, it managed to avoid destruction; the merit of protecting the city is attributed to the military skill of the Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Vasyl Skopenko, who led the operation. His grave with a monument was located near the Opatowska Gate, but in 1990, by the decision of Mayor Tomasz Panfil, it was moved to the Soviet military cemetery on Mickiewicz Street; this was one of the first public acts of decommunization in Poland. Jak władze Sandomierza wyprzedziły historię. Z prof. Tomaszem Panfilem rozmawia Piotr Mazurek, «W Sieci Historii» nr 8/2014, s. 78-79.
No major industrial development took place in Sandomierz during the communist era, thus preserving its look of a charming, small city full of historical monuments among the unspoiled landscape.
==Gallery==
Climate
The city experiences a humid continental climate with notably warm summers (Köppen: Dfb), much more consistently pronounced in eastern Poland. Precipitation, especially in the form of rains, is concentrated in the summer, reducing until the end of winter. Sandomierz has four well defined seasons of the year, hot summers (sometimes), usually bearable and cold winters but with slightly moderate extremes.
Points of interest
Education
Sports
The local football team is . It competes in the lower leagues.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Sandomierz is twinned with:
]]
Notable residents
Webcams
Virtual walks
See also
External links
|
|
