Stradów 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 ...

in the administrative district of Gmina Czarnocin, within

Kazimierza County __NOTOC__ Kazimierza County ( pl, powiat kazimierski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish loc ...

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship The Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, also known as the Świętokrzyskie Province, and the Holy Cross Voivodeship ( pl, województwo świętokrzyskie ) is a voivodeship (province) of Poland situated in southeastern part of the country, in the histo ...

, in south-central Poland. It lies in historic

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 ...

, approximately north-west of Czarnocin, north of

Kazimierza Wielka Kazimierza Wielka () is a town in Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about northeast of Kraków. It is the administrative seat of Kazimierza County (''powiat kazimierski''). With a population of 5,848 (2005), it is the smallest county seat ...

, and south of the regional capital

Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...

History

In the

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

, a large Slavic gord was located here. Altogether, the complex covered the area of some 25 hectares, and was among the largest of early Poland. The gord probably existed from the 8th to the 12th century, and was placed among hills, which provided defensive cover. Archaeologists found here traces of wooden houses, furnaces, and fortifications. The gord had the population of several hundred, it probably was an important administrative center of the region. Most likely, it belonged to the state of the

Vistulans The Vistulans, or Vistulanians ( pl, Wiślanie), were an early medieval Lechitic tribe inhabiting the western part of modern Lesser Poland."The main tribe inhabiting the reaches of the Upper Vistula and its tributaries was the Vislane (Wislanie) ...

, and some time in the late 10th century, Stradów was seized by another Slavic tribe, the

Polans Polans may refer to two Slavic tribes: * Polans (eastern) The Polans (, ''Poliany'', ''Polyane'', pl, Polanie), also Polianians, were an East Slavic tribe between the 6th and the 9th century, which inhabited both sides of the Dnieper river ...

. By the 12th century, the importance of Stradów diminished, as it was replaced by other local towns, seats of

castellan 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 ...

s, such as Wislica. Central part of the gord of Stradów was the so-called Zamczysko, with the area of 1,5 hectares. It was surrounded by a rampart with a moat, which had the shape of a horseshoe. Next to Zamczysko there were subdivisions of the gord, now known as Miescisko and Barzynskie. They also were protected by a system of ramparts and moats. The size of the complex suggests that in case of danger, hundreds of local residents were able to find protection there. Stradów also has a wooden church of St.

Bartholomew the Apostle Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

, which was founded in 1657 by

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Wladyslaw Myszkowski. It was built in the spot of an earlier church from 1326, which was burned down in 1656, during the

Swedish invasion of Poland The Deluge ( pl, potop szwedzki, lt, švedų tvanas) was a series of mid-17th-century military campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce ...

. In the 19th century, the church, which is famous for the painting of Our Lady of Stradów, was remodelled and expanded. Inside there is a stone baptismal font (17th century), several paintings (17th and 18th centuries), Baroque equipment and silver dress of Our Lady of Stradów (1879). Next to the church stands a wooded bell tower (1780). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, on January 11, 1945, a unit of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...

destroyed here a unit of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, together with their Ukrainian collaborators.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stradow, Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship Villages in Kazimierza County