Szydłów is a fortified

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Staszów County __NOTOC__ Staszów County ( pl, powiat staszowski) 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 local g ...

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 southeastern

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 ...

. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Szydłów. It lies approximately west of Staszów and south-east of the regional capital Kielce. The village has a population of 1,093. Szydłów's history dates to the 12th century. It gained its city rights in 1329 and lost them in 1869. The village contains several tourist attractions, including the 16th-century Szydłów Synagogue, several buildings and churches dating to the 14th century and the ruins of a castle from the same period. The first official inventory of important buildings in Poland, ''A General View of the Nature of Ancient Monuments in the Kingdom of Poland,'' led by Kazimierz Stronczyński from 1844–55, describes the Szydłów Synagogue as one of Poland's architecturally notable buildings.

Location

Szydłów is located in Lesser Polish Upland, between the

Świętokrzyskie Mountains The Świętokrzyskie Mountains ( pl, Góry Świętokrzyskie, ), often anglicized to Holy Cross Mountains, are a mountain range in central Poland, near the city of Kielce. The Świętokrzyskie Mountains are some of the oldest mountains in Europ ...

and the ''

Połaniec Połaniec is a town in Staszów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 8,406 inhabitants (2012). The town is in Lesser Poland, and its history dates back to the early days of Polish statehood. It lies in the western part of the Sa ...

Plain''. The village lies within borders of '' Chmielnik–Szydłów Protected Landscape Area''. The distance to Kielce is 40 kilometers, to Staszów 12 kilometers. Due to numerous plum orchards, the village is called ''Plum Capital of Poland''. Every year, the ''Plum Festival'' takes place here. The village is crossed by two regional roads—765th and 756th; furthermore, Szydłów is a stop along

Lesser Polish Way The Lesser Poland Way is one of the Polish routes of the Way of St. James, a medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It runs from Sandomierz to Kraków through the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and the Świętokrzyskie Voivo ...

History

First mention of Szydłów comes from the year 1191, in documents of

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Prov ...

Collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

. At that time, the village was owned by Polish Kings, located along the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

merchant road, which was of major importance in the late

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 ...

. On July 1, 1329, Szydłów was incorporated as a town on

Środa Śląska Środa Śląska (german: Neumarkt in Schlesien) is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Środa Śląska County, and of the smaller administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Środa Śląska. The ...

town law (see also:

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

). In the mid-14th century, King

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...

founded here a fortified castle and the ''Church of Saint Ladislaus''. The town was surrounded by a defensive wall, with three gates—

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 ...

Gate,

Opatów Opatów (; yi, אַפּטאַ, אַפּט) is a town in southeastern Poland, within Opatów County in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Province). Historically, it was part of a greater region called Lesser Poland. In 2012 the populati ...

Gate, and Water Gate. Soon afterwards, Szydłów became the seat of a starosta, and first artisans came here, as well as Jewish settlers. The town was located in 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 Polan ...

, and its location helped wine, cattle and hops merchants, who would go with their goods to Sandomierz. In the 16th century, Szydłów emerged as a center of cloth-making. Also, tailors, bakers, shoemakers, iron smiths, saddle makers, sword makers and pot makers worked here, there also was a brewery. In 1528, waterworks and bath houses were opened, and in 1564, the town had 180 houses, of which 49 were located on the market square, but next year, large parts of Szydłów burned in a fire. At that time, a number Jews settled in the town, who in 1534–1564 built first synagogue. Good times came to an end in the first half of the 17th century. In 1630 Szydłów was burned by rebellious soldiers of fortune, who were not paid their salaries. Unable to enter the fortified town, the mercenaries set the suburbs on fire, and the blaze reached Szydłów. Swedish invasion of Poland (1655–1660), and the invasion of troops of

George II Rakoczi George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

(see

Treaty of Radnot Treaty of Radnot was a treaty signed during the Second Northern War in Radnot in Transylvania (now Iernut in Romania) on 6 December 1656. The treaty divided the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between the signing parties. According to the t ...

) brought almost complete destruction, after which town's population shrank from 1,300 to 350, and the number of houses was reduced to 54 (as for 1663). After these conflicts, Szydłów never recovered to its previous prosperity. In 1789, Szydłów had a stone town hall, 5 mills on the Ciekąca river and 196 houses, many of them abandoned. The castle was ruined, and by 1827, the number of houses grew to 202, and the population reached 1,550. After the

third partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

(1795), Szydłów was annexed by 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 ...

, but in 1809 it became the seat of a county in 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 ...

. In 1815 it became part of Congress Poland, and in 1850, Russian authorities liquidated Szydłów County, merging it with

Stopnica Stopnica is a town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Stopnica. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately east of Busko-Zdrój and south-east ...

County. In 1869, as a punishment for participation of residents in the January Uprising, Szydłów was reduced to the status of a village. In 1929 Szydłów, already part of

Kielce Voivodeship Kielce Voivodeship ( pl, województwo kieleckie) is a former unit of administrative division and the local government in Poland. It was originally formed during Poland's return to independence in the aftermath of World War One, and recreated within ...

, had 2,246 inhabitants, of which 30% were Jews. 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 opposing ...

, part of the town, and almost all of its Jewish population, were destroyed. At the beginning of the war, between 500 and 600 Jews lived in the town. Immediately on occupying Szydłów, the Germans robbed and plundered Jewish homes and shops. They would randomly shoot and torture Jewish men. Men were also conscripted for forced labor. In 1940, Germans forced Jews from other towns in the region into Szydłów, doubling the Jewish population. By the end of 1941, more than 1000 Jews were in Szydłów with more Jews deported there periodically. In October 1942, 150 Jews were sent to labor camps, fifteen Jews were shot in Szydłów, and the remaining Jews, then numbering about 1000, were marched to the Szczucin train station and sent to the

Treblinka Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The cam ...

killing camp where they were immediately murdered. The number of Szydłów

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

survivors is unknown. In 1960 the population was 1,402. On 1 January 2019, Szydłów regained its town status.

Points of interest

* Medieval town center, with a 700-meter long defensive wall. Out of three gates, only Kraków Gate still exists. * St. Stanisław Church (14th century) * Gothic All Saints Church (14th–15th century) * 14th-century Royal Castle in Szydłów, rebuilt in the 16th century. Main building of the complex is in ruins, currently the castle has a library and a museum. It is entered through a 17th-century gate. * Ruins of the Holy Spirit Church and Hospital (16th century) * Late-Renaissance synagogue (16th century), which now houses a Jewish Culture Museum. File:Szydlow church.jpg, Saint Władysław Church File:20170211 Kościół Wszystkich Świętych w Szydłowie 4192.jpg, Szydłów Church File:Szydlow 20060619 1240.jpg, Old Church ruins File:Szydlow(js)1.jpg, Courtyard of the Castle File:Szydlow castle 20060619 1433.jpg, Szydłów Castle File:20170211 Synagoga w Szydłowie 4339.jpg, Szydłów Synagogue before renovation

Demography

According to the 2002 Poland census, there were 1,054 people residing in Szydłów village, of whom 50.7% were male and 49.3% were female. In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 37.4% from 18 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older.

ImageSize = width:350 height:220 PlotArea = left:70 right:15 top:30 bottom:50 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = justify Colors = id:gray1 value:gray(0.9) id:blue1 value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) legend:Male id:red1 value:rgb(1,0.5,0.5) legend:Female id:green1 value:rgb(0,1,0) Legend = orientation:horizontal top:220 left:150 TextData = pos:(165,20) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:Szydłów in 2002 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-97 till:97 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:97 start:-97 gridcolor:gray1 PlotData = bar:80+ color:blue1 width:1 from:-24 till:0 width:12 text:24 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:80+ color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:29 width:12 text:29 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:70–79 color:blue1 width:1 from:-35 till:0 width:12 text:35 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:70–79 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:51 width:12 text:51 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:60–69 color:blue1 width:1 from:-21 till:0 width:12 text:21 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:60–69 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:46 width:12 text:46 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:50–59 color:blue1 width:1 from:-63 till:0 width:12 text:63 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:50–59 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:59 width:12 text:59 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:40-49 color:blue1 width:1 from:-88 till:0 width:12 text:88 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:40–49 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:87 width:12 text:87 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:30–39 color:blue1 width:1 from:-59 till:0 width:12 text:59 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:30–39 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:67 width:12 text:67 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:20–29 color:blue1 width:1 from:-81 till:0 width:12 text:81 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:20–29 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:54 width:12 text:54 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:10–19 color:blue1 width:1 from:-96 till:0 width:12 text:96 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:10–19 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:76 width:12 text:76 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:0–9 color:blue1 width:1 from:-67 till:0 width:12 text:67 textcolor:black fontsize:8px bar:0–9 color:red1 width:1 from:0 till:51 width:12 text:51 textcolor:black fontsize:8px

Figure 1. Population pyramid of village in 2002 — by age group and sex

References

External links