Podegrodzie is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Nowy Sącz County __NOTOC__ Nowy Sącz County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local govern ...

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

(administrative district) called Gmina Podegrodzie. It lies approximately south-west of

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the Beskid S ...

and south-east of the regional capital

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. Podegrodzie is the seat of one of the oldest Roman Catholic parishes in historic

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

. It was probably established here in 1014 by Boleslaw Chrobry, because in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, two fortified gord existed in this area: Zamczysko and Grobla. Furthermore, Podegrodzie is one of the centers of an ethnic group Lachy Sadeckie. Here, the Museum of Lachy Sadeckie is located. The village owes its name to the location. Podegrodzie in loose translation means "a settlement under the gord", as it was located at the two

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

residencies, the gords of Grobla and Zamczysko. It was first mentioned in documents from the late 13th century, and

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

wrote its name in two ways: Podgrodzye and Podgrodze. In 1538 it was spelled Podegrodze, and in 1581 – Podgrodzie. In the late 10th century, when southern Lesser Poland became part of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, the seat of the

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

was a gord at Naszczowice. After it had burned, the castellans moved their residence to the Zamczysko gord, which also burned after some time. Next residence was the gord of Grobla, located on a hill several hundred meters southwards. The village of Podegrodzie was established between the two gords. In 1241, Podegrodzie and Grobla were destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Poland. As a result, the town of

Stary Sącz Stary Sącz is a small historic town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Stary Sącz (commune), and one of the oldest towns in the country, receiving Magdeburg rights in the 13th century. Geography Star ...

was founded in 1278, replacing Grobla as main administrative center of the region.

References

{{Gmina Podegrodzie Villages in Nowy Sącz County