Orneta o is a town in northern Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, or Warmia-Masuria Province , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn...

, with a population of 9,859 (as of 2007).

History

Wormditt, a village of Old Prussians

Old Prussians

The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...

, was first mentioned in 1308. The town coat of arms depicts the worm (English: worm, dragon

European dragon

European dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe.In European folklore, a dragon is a serpentine legendary creature. The Latin word draco, as in constellation Draco, comes directly from Greek δράκων,...

), German: Worms, Wurm as in Tatzelwurm

Tatzelwurm

In Alpine folklore, the Tatzelwurm is a worm-like creature. It is reported to live in several areas of Europe, including the Austrian, Bavarian, Italian and Swiss Alps....

, Lindworm

Lindworm

Lindworm in British heraldry, is a technical term for a wingless bipedal dragon often with a venomous bite.-Etymology:In modern Scandinavian languages, the cognate lindorm can refer to any 'serpent' or monstrous...

).The bishop of Warmia Eberhard von Neiße ordered the building of a city which received town rights in 1313 and was mainly populated by settlers from Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

.

Legend Of The Dragon

According to some legend, many ages ago there lived a dragon that devoured not only animals, but also women and children. Many knights who tried to set the town free from the disaster were killed in a struggle with the monster. At last one of the knights managed to combat the dragon. Reminiscences of the legend are reflected in Orneta's crest. The oldest image of the crest is known from the sealing wax on the document from 1388. It represents the dragon biting its own tail. In the frame of the seal there is only a fragment of an inscription which says" S.BV.MDIT." However, on the seals from the 15th c., a juridical seal from the 16th c. as well as the seal of the Town Secretary from 18th c. there is the dragon coiled, lying on its own back.

External links

• Orneta's unofficial website