Waśniów 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 ...

Ostrowiec County __NOTOC__ Ostrowiec County ( pl, powiat ostrowiecki) 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 loca ...

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 is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Waśniów. 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 ...

, approximately west of

Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (), often referred to as Ostrowiec, is a city in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland, with 66,258 residents (as of 2021). The town is one of historic centers of Polish industry and metallurgy, ...

and east of the regional capital Kielce. Waśniów is one of the oldest villages in the area. It had the status of a town from 1351 to 1869, and its name (also spelled as Waśniów) comes from a Slavic language word "wasn", which means an argument. The village was first mentioned in the year 1145, as Vasnov, later Wasnowe, and Wasnow. Following the order of Duke

Mieszko III the Old Mieszko III the Old (c. 1126/27 – 13 March 1202), of the Piast dynasty, was Duke of Greater Poland from 1138 and High Duke of Poland, with interruptions, from 1173 until his death. He was the fourth and second surviving son of Duke Bolesła ...

, Waśniów, together with its market place, was granted to the Archbishops of

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, ...

. Soon afterwards, in 1147, the village passed into the hands of

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

from

Trzemeszno Trzemeszno (german: Tremessen) is a town in Gniezno County, west-central Poland belonging to the group of the oldest settlements in the region. The town's name derives from an Old Polish word “Trzemcha” meaning the flower of the "Bird’s C ...

. On January 7, 1351, King

Kazimierz Wielki 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 ...

granted Sroda Slaska town charter to Waśniów. In the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

, Waśniów belonged to the

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 ...

. The town was located along ancient merchant routes from

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 ...

and Opatow towards central Poland. In 1409, during the

Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, also known as the Great War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war beg ...

, it was visited by King Wladyslaw Jagiello, and in 1432, Waśniów passed into the hands of the Wachock Abbey. Despite additional privileges, granted to it by King Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk in 1467, Waśniów remained a small town, which furthermore burned in 80%, in a great fire in 1523. The fire put an end to its development, and further destruction was brought by the Swedish invasion of Poland (1656), as well as the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

(1705). After the Partitions of Poland, Waśniów briefly belonged to the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, and in 1815 – 1915, it was part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In 1827, the town had the population of 295, with 42 houses. During the January Uprising,

Marian Langiewicz Marian Langiewicz, full name Marian Antoni Melchior Langiewicz (; 5 August 1827, Krotoszyn – 11 May 1887, Istanbul), was a Polish patriot notable as a military leader of the January Uprising in 1863. Biography He was born in the province of ...

stayed in the area of WasnWaśniówiow. Several skirmishes took place here between Russian soldiers and Polish rebels, and as a punishment, Waśniów was stripped of town charter in 1869. In the late 19th century, the village was located in Opatow County, and had the population of 386. By the 1920s, already in Second Polish Republic’s

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 ...

, Waśniów had the population of 580. It did not have a train station, the nearest one was and still is located 14 kilometers away, at Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski (known then as Ostrowiec nad Kamienna). Among points of interest at Waśniów is the parish Church of Saints Peter and Paul, whose existence was first mentioned in 1145. In 1656, the wooden church was replaced by a brick, late

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

complex, with a Baroque interior. In 1882 the church was expanded, and in 1971–1975 it was restored. In 1633, in a

folwark ''Folwark''; german: Vorwerk; uk, Фільварок; ''Filwarok''; be, Фальварак; ''Falwarak''; lt, Palivarkas is a Polish word for a primarily serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise (a type of ''latifundium''), often very ...

called Gaj, located near Waśniów, a prominent Polish language poet Wespazjan Kochowski was born. He dedicated one of his poems to Waśniów.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasniow Villages in Ostrowiec County Sandomierz Voivodeship Radom Governorate Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939)