Szydlowiec
Encyclopedia
Szydłowiec AUD is a town in Szydłowiec County, Mazovian Voivodeship, 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...

, with 15,243 inhabitants (December 31, 2005). It is the seat of Szydłowiec Commune (Gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...

 Szydłowiec
). Previously, from 1975 to 1998, it was in the Radom Voivodeship
Radom Voivodeship
Radom Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1975–1998, superseded by Masovian Voivodeship...

.

History

From the 12th century the environs of Szydłowiec belonged to the powerful knightly family of Odrowąż
Odrowaz
Odrowąż may refer to the following places:*Odrowąż, Lesser Poland Voivodeship *Odrowąż, Opoczno County in Łódź Voivodeship *Odrowąż, Radomsko County in Łódź Voivodeship...

, who descended from Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

n-Bohemian Baworowic family. In the 13th century the site of the present castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 was occupied by a stronghold on an artificial island with wood and earth defences and by a village called Szydłowiec. The present town came into being in the early 15th century and together with the neighbourigh estate was the property of the Szydłowiecki and Radziwiłł families until the 19th century.
The town flourished in the 16th and the first half of 17th centuries. It was then an important centre of trade and crafts, mainry stone-masonry based on the exploatition of the local sandstone which was easy to work. This stone was used to carve architectural sculptural elements and to make tools for agriculture. It was also a building material for the local Saint Sigsmunt Church
Saint Sigsmunt Church in Szydlowiec
Saint Sigsmunt Church in Szydlowiec is a church that was built towards the close of the example of the Late Gothic hall church. It was built with a local sandstone...

, Castle in Szydłowiec and the Town hall in Szydłowiec; moreover, it was sent to Kielce, Cracow and Warsaw. Among the goods traded in vere agricurtular products.
The period of wars 1648-1717 and numerous epidemics and fires brought abought a decline of Szydłowiec,which persisted for centuries, its state being yet aggravated after the partitions of Poland. The town owes this present cheracter to transformations in urban design and architecture which took place in the second half of the 19th century and in the 20th century.

Szydłowiec also had a strong Jewish community until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. At one point it had a population that was of a Jewish majority. It was home to Grand Rabbi Nathan David Rabinowitz (d. 1865), the grandson of Grand Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Peshischa
Przysucha
Przysucha is a town in Poland. Located in the Masovian Voivodeship, about 100 km southwest of Warsaw, it is the capital of Przysucha County. It has 6,762 inhabitants . Its name in Yiddish is פשיסחא or פשיסכא . It was home to a number of prominent Hasidic Rabbis, such as The Holy Jew and...

, and the father of the Biala Hasidic dynasty
Biala (Hasidic dynasty)
The Biala Hasidic dynasty originated from Poland. The Rebbes of Biala are descended from Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Rabinowicz, known as the Yid Hakodosh .-Lineage:...

.

External links

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