Bełchatów () is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in central
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
with a population of 55,583 as of December 2021.
[ It is located in ]Łódź Voivodeship
Łódź Voivodeship (also known as Lodz Province, or by its Polish name ''Województwo łódzkie'' ) is a province- voivodeship in central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Łódź Voivodeship (1975–1999) and the Sier ...
, from Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
.
The Elektrownia Bełchatów, located in Bełchatów, is the largest coal fueled power plant in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It produces 27–28 TWh TWH or twh could refer to:
* Tai Dón language, a language of Vietnam, Laos, and China
* Tai Wo Hau station, Hong Kong; MTR station code
* Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse
* Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada
* Tun ...
of electricity per year, or 20% of the total power generation in Poland.
Districts
One municipal division of Bełchatów comprises numerous housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States ...
s including the Budowlanych housing estate located in the central part of the town (close to the "Kultura" cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
, the Municipal Cultural Center, the Town Hall and the church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
). The estate is also close to the "Rakówka" river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
and Olszewski Park.
Other municipal divisions of Bełchatów include Dobrzelów District, Grocholice, and the following housing estates:
Cuisine
The officially protected traditional food
Traditional foods are foods and dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national dish, regio ...
of Bełchatów (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland) is ''wyborowa krówka bełchatowska'', a local type of krówka (traditional Polish candy).
Sports
* Skra Bełchatów
Skra Bełchatów, competing for sponsorship reasons as PGE Skra Bełchatów and officially called KPS Skra Bełchatów SA, is a professional men's volleyball club based in Bełchatów in central Poland, founded in 1957. They compete in the Polis ...
– men's volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
team playing in PlusLiga (Polish top division), 9–time Polish Champions, 7–time Polish Cup
The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...
winners.
* GKS Bełchatów
GKS Bełchatów is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Bełchatów that currently plays in the IV liga.
History
GKS Bełchatów entered Poland's Klasa A in 1977 under the name of Węgiel Brunatny Bełchatów, a ...
– men's football team playing in the second division, which also played in Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
(top division) in the past.
International relations
Twin towns - sister cities
Bełchatów is twinned with:Aubergenville
Aubergenville () is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. It is located between Mantes-la-Jolie and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the valley of the Seine. This city is located near the Côteau de Montgardé on the road to ...
, France
* Myślenice
Myślenice is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998). Population: 20,261 (2007). The town is divided into six districts. One of them, Zarabie, is a popu ...
in Poland
* Csongrád
Csongrád ( ro, Ciongrad; tr, Conğrad sr, Чонград, Čongrad, archaically also ''Црноград/Crnograd'') is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary.
History
At the time of the Hungarian Conquest (the end of 9th century) the ...
in Hungary
* Alcobaça in Portugal
* Tauragė
Tauragė (; see other names) is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of Tauragė County. In 2020, its population was 21,520. Tauragė is situated on the Jūra River, close to the border with the Kaliningrad Oblast, and not far fro ...
in Lithuania
Former twin towns
* Sovetsk Sovetsk (russian: Сове́тск) is the name of several urban localities in Russia.
*Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, formerly Tilsit
* Sovetsk, Kirov Oblast, a town in Sovetsky District of Kirov Oblast;
* Sovetsk, T ...
, Russia
In February 2022, Bełchatów suspended its partnership with the Russian city of Sovetsk as a reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
.
Notable people
* Harry Haft (1925–2007), survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp and a professional boxer in the United States during 1948–1949
Gallery
File:Bełchatów -siedziba PGE 4.JPG, PGE headquarters
File:Stadion GKS Bełchatów (Poland).JPG, GKS Bełchatów Stadium
File:Dworek Olszewskich.jpg, Olszewski Manor
File:MiPBP Bełchatów.JPG, Library
File:Rogowiec, Elektrownia Bełchatów - fotopolska.eu (262558).jpg, A view of the Power Plants and the Brown Coal Mine
References
External links
Official website
Jewish community of Bełchatów
on Virtual Shtetl
The Virtual Shtetl ( pl, Wirtualny Sztetl) is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland.
History
The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belchatow
Cities and towns in Łódź Voivodeship
Bełchatów County
Sieradz Voivodeship (1339–1793)
Piotrków Governorate
Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Socialist planned cities