Łęczyca

Łęczyca (pronounced [wɛnˈt͡ʂɨt͡sa]; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, Polish: Królewskie Miasto Łęczyca; German: Lentschitza; Hebrew: לונטשיץ‎) is a town of 14,362 inhabitants (as of 2016)[1] in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the Łęczyca County.

For other places with the same name, see Łęczyca (disambiguation).
Łęczyca
Coat of arms
Łęczyca
Coordinates: 52°3′N 19°12′E
Country Poland
VoivodeshipŁódź
CountyŁęczyca County
GminaŁęczyca (urban gmina)
Government
 • MayorPaweł Kulesza
Area
 • Total9.0 km2 (3.5 sq mi)
Population
 (31.12.2016)
 • Total14,362[1]
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
99-100
Car platesELE
Websitehttp://www.leczyca.info.pl

Origin of the name

The town was probably named after a West Slavic (Lechitic) tribe called Leczanie, which inhabited central Poland in the early Middle Ages. Some scholars however claim that the town was named after an Old Polish word łęg, which means a swampy plain.

In medieval Latin documents, Łęczyca is called Lonsin, Lucic, Lunciz, Lantsiza, Loncizia, Lonsitia and Lunchicia. In the early 12th century, Gallus Anonymus called Łęczyca “Lucic”, and in 1154, Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi named it Nugrada, placing it among other main towns of the Kingdom of Poland, such as Kraków, Sieradz, Gniezno, Wrocław and Santok.

Location

Łęczyca lies in the middle of the county, and has the area of 8.95 km2 (3.46 square miles). In the past, the town was the capital of the Land of Łęczyca, which was later turned into Łęczyca Voivodeship. In the Second Polish Republic and in 1945 - 1975, Łęczyca belonged to Lodz Voivodeship. In 1975-1998, it was part of Plock Voivodeship. The geometric centre of Poland is located near Łęczyca.

History
The First Sejm in Łęczyca, by Jan Matejko

Łęczyca is one of the oldest Polish cities, mentioned in the 12th century. It was the place of the first recorded meeting of Sejm, the Polish parliament, in 1182. In 1229 it became the capital of the Duchy of Łęczyca (see Testament of Boleslaw III Wrymouth), which in 1263 was split into two parts - the Duchy of Łęczyca and the Duchy of Sieradz. In the early 14th century, the Łęczyca Voivodeship was created. This administrative unit of the Kingdom of Poland existed until the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century.

Łęczyca, which lies in the centre of Poland, was for centuries one of the most important cities of the country. It received Magdeburg rights before 1267, and in 1331 the Teutonic Knights sacked the city during one of their repeated incursions into Poland. A considerable number of buildings were burned down, including two churches. A few decades later, on the initiative of Casimir the Great, the city was walled and a castle built to the southeast of the city.[2]

Łęczyca prospered in the period between the mid-14th and mid-17th centuries. The royal castle, built by Casimir the Great, was located on a small hill, protected by a moat with water from the Bzura river. The complex was made from red brick, set on stone foundations. It was protected by a 10-meter high wall, with a tower located in its southwestern corner. Gate tower was placed in the western wall, in the basement was a prison, and in the courtyard there was a two-storey tenement building. Rooms of that building frequently housed meetings of the Royal Council. In 1964, widespread renovation of the complex began. Another building was added at that time, which now houses the Museum of the Land of Łęczyca.

Soon after its completion in the mid-14th century, the castle was named one of royal residences, and the seat of the Starosta of Łęczyca. In 1406, it was burned by the Teutonic Knights, but the complex was rebuilt so quickly that in 1409, King Władysław II Jagiełło attended here a meeting of his advisors, discussing the oncoming war with the Knights.

Following the Battle of Grunwald (1410), a number of high-ranking Teutonic prisoners was kept here for ransom. Four sessions of the Sejm (Polish parliament) took place here: in 1420, 1448, 1454 i 1462. Furthermore, the castle served as headquarters of King Casimir IV Jagiellon, during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66). At that time, the Łęczyca Voivodeship was divided into three counties - Brzeziny, Orzel and Łęczyca. In 1420, a Bohemian delegation offered here Czech crown to Jagiełło. The city's prominence came to an end with the Swedish invasion of Poland when the castle was overrun and most of the city once again destroyed, and it remained in a state of crisis until the Partitions.[2]

Following the invasion of Poland at the start of the Second World War, Łęczyca was occupied by Nazi Germany and incorporated into the region known as Reichsgau Wartheland as part of the district (kreis) of Lentschütz (Germanized word for 'Łęczyca'). In January 1942 there was a forced labor camp operating in or near the town.[3]

Jews had been an important part of the population of Łęczyca since the late 1400s. At the beginning of the war in 1939, the Jewish population was more than 4000, about 30 percent of the community. The Germans began to terrorize, pillage, and humiliate the Jewish population from the beginning of the occupation. The Germans established a ghetto in late 1939, and later forbade any Jew to leave it on penalty of death. After the ghetto was enclosed, hunger and typhus ravaged the ghetto population. Periodically, hundreds of the community were expelled to other places, while Jews in other locations were brought to Łęczyca. In April 1942, the remaining Jews, about 1700 people, were sent to the Chełmno death camp where they were immediately gassed. The local Poles took over their houses and what meager possessions they left behind.[4]

After the war it was reintegrated into the People's Republic of Poland.

Notable locations
A view from the castle tower
Town hall of Łęczyca

Because of its royal history Łęczyca is probably more tourist-worthy than its current size might suggest. Some of the more interesting sights include:

  • The Royal Castle - originally dating from the 14th century, rebuilt from scratch after 1964.
  • The Church of St Andrew the Apostle—the current church dates was consecrated in 1425.
  • The former Dominican monastery in Ul. Pocztowa (served as a prison from 1799 until 2006). Former political internees include Władysław Gomułka and Władysław Frasyniuk.
  • The Cistercian church and monastery in ul. Poznańska, built between 1636-1643.
  • The defensive walls of Łęczyca, some of which are still extant. The original walls enclosed an area of approximately 9 hectares, amounted to 1150 metres in length and 7 metres in height.[2] The town plan is still recognisably that of a medieval town.

A couple of kilometres away are the Collegiate church and the earthworks at the site of the medieval settlement of Tum.

Dukes of Sieradz-Łęczyca

after 1305 parts of the united Kingdom of Poland initially as two vassal duchies, later incorporated as Łęczyca Voivodeship and Sieradz Voivodeship.

Dukes of Łęczyca

After 1305 part of the united Kingdom of Poland as a vassal duchy, later after 1343 incorporated by the king Casimir III the Great as the Łęczyca Voivodeship.

People

Twin towns – sister cities

Łęczyca is twinned with four cities:[5]

See also

References
  1. Population. Size and Structure and Vital Statistics in Poland by Territorial Division in 2016, as of December 31 (PDF). Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. 2017. p. 114. ISSN 2451-2087.
  2. Łęczyca, Poland (official tourist guide). Łęczyca, Poland: Urząd Miasta Łęczyca (Municipal Office of Łęczyca).
  3. Zwangsarbeit im NS-Staat at German Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) Accessed September 29, 2011.
  4. Megargee, Geoffrey (2012). Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. p. Volume II, 74–75. ISBN 978-0-253-35599-7.
  5. Miasta Partnerskie - Urząd miasta Łęczyca (in Polish)


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