Białaczów is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

(a town in 1456 - 1870) in

Opoczno County __NOTOC__ Opoczno County ( pl, powiat opoczyński) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, south-east Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government re ...

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 Sieradz ...

, in central Poland. It is the seat of the

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

(administrative district) called

Gmina Białaczów Gmina Białaczów is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Opoczno County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. Its seat is the village of Białaczów, which lies approximately south of Opoczno and south-east of the regional capital Łód ...

. It lies approximately south of

Opoczno Opoczno ) is a town in south-central Poland, in eastern part of Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship (1975–1998). It has a long and rich history, and in the past it used to be one of the most importa ...

and south-east of the regional capital

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

. The village has a population of 1,500. Historically, Białaczów belongs to

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a s ...

, and together with Opoczno, for hundreds of years it belonged to Lesser Poland’s

Sandomierz Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo Sandomierskie, la, Palatinatus Sandomirensis) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Poland ...

. The village is the birthplace of

Jan Prandota Jan Prandota (c. 1200 – 20 September 1266) was bishop of Kraków from 1242 to his death in 1266. He was member of the Odrowąż family.Jacek Maciejewski: Episkopat polski doby dzielnicowej, 1180-1320. Kraków 2003, p. 234. Prandota is recorded a ...

, the

Bishop of Kraków A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

(1242-1266).

History

In the 13th century, Białaczów belonged to the Odrowąż family. The village received its town charter in 1456. At that time, it was part of Opoczno County of Sandomierz Voivodeship, and remained part of it until the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

. Białaczów was a

private town A private town is a town owned by a private person or a family. History of Private Towns in Poland In the history of Poland, private towns (''miasta prywatne'') were towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights, princes, etc. A ...

, changing hands several times. In the late 18th and early 19th century it belonged to Stanisław Małachowski, who in neighboring villages opened several early industry factories. In 1795 Białaczów found itself in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, and later on, it became part of the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

(since 1815: Russian-controlled

Congress Kingdom Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It wa ...

). Its coat of arms was devised by Stanisław Małachowski in 1787, and in 1870, like many other towns of northern Lesser Poland, Białaczów was reduced to the status of a village, as a punishment for residents’ patriotic support of the anti-Russian

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

Points of interest

* parish church. First church in Białaczów was built in the 13th century. It burned in 1511, and was rebuilt soon afterwards. The church was remodeled in 1694-1696, 1870 and 1932, * classicistic town hall (1797), * classicistic palace complex with a park, built in 1797-1800 by Stanisław Małachowski, renovated in the 1980s, * early 19th century inn, * 18th and 19th century houses in the market square.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bialaczow Villages in Opoczno County Lesser Poland Sandomierz Voivodeship Radom Governorate Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939) Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939)