Starczanowo 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 ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Murowana Goślina __NOTOC__ Gmina Murowana Goślina is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. Its seat is the town of Murowana Goślina, which lies approximately north of the regional ...

, within

Poznań County Poznań County ( pl, powiat poznański) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ref ...

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 ...

, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of

Murowana Goślina Murowana Goślina (; german: Murowana-Goslin) is a town in Poznań County in western Poland, with 10,336 inhabitants (2009). It lies approximately north of the major city of Poznań, on the main road and railway line to Wągrowiec. The Trojanka ...

and north of the regional capital

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. It was first mentioned in written records in 1364. It has an approximate population of 50. About 1 km east of the village is the site of Radzim, formerly a fortress and

castellany A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

on an island (now a peninsula) in the

Warta The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...

river (first mentioned 1254). This was an important centre in the

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branche ...

kingdom, lying on a route between

Gniezno Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...

and western

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

. However, the castellany ceased to exist in the second half of the fifteenth century, and the remaining village of Radzim declined in the 18th century as a result of the Swedish invasions, finally being wiped out by cholera in the early 19th century. No buildings survive, but architectural work has been carried out on the site. A little further north along the Warta is the Śnieżycowy Jar

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, founded in 1975 and now covering 9

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s. It is most notable for the large numbers of spring snowflakes (''Leucojum vernum'') which bloom in March. This is one of the few places where this flower is found in lowland Poland. It is thought to have been brought here by human intervention in the 19th century.

Notes

References

Local authority website
*''Murowana Goślina i okolice'', N. Kulse, Z. Wojczak (local publication) * Article on nature reserve (in Polish) Villages in Poznań County {{Poznań-geo-stub