Zakroczym (; yi, זאקראטשין ''Zakrotshin'') is a small town in the
Masovian Voivodeship
The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. The ...
,
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 populous ...
. It is located at around . The
Vistula River
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 ...
flows through the town. Zakroczym has a long and rich history: 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 exist ...
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 Crown of the Kingdom of ...
, it was the capital of an administrative unit (
ziemia
Land is a historical unit of administration in Poland and Ruthenia.
In the Polish language, the term is not capitalization, capitalized (''ziemia chełmińska'', Chelmno Land; not ''Ziemia Chełmińska''). All ''ziemias'' are named after main urb ...
), part of
Mazovian Voivodeship
The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. The ...
. Also, Zakroczym was a royal town of the
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The town lies at the intersection of two main roads - national road 62, and
national road 7.
Name
The name of Zakroczym comes from ancient Polish word ''zakrot'', which means river crossing. Originally, the town was located closer to 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 ...
river, and was called Kroczym or Kroczyn. Due to numerous floods, Zakroczym was moved to a higher location.
History
* c. 1155 - first mention of the
gord and settlement of Zakroczym, property of Benedictine Monastery from
Mogilno
Mogilno (; ) is a town in central Poland, situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1975–1998).
History
Mogilno is one of the oldest settlements along the border of the Greater Poland an ...
,
* 8 June 1335.
Mazovia
Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...
n dukes Siemowit II and Trojden I renew here truce with Grand Master of the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
,
Dietrich von Altenburg
Dietrich von Altenburg was the 19th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1335 to 1341.
He came from the Thuringian town of Altenburg in the Holy Roman Empire, where his father held the office of a burgrave of the immediate Ple ...
,
* 1374 - Zakroczym becomes capital of a
land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...
, part of
Masovian Voivodeship
The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. The ...
, and remains so until 1795,
* 1422 - Duke of Mazovia
Janusz I of Warsaw
Janusz I of Warsaw (pl: ''Janusz I warszawski''), also known as Janusz I the Old (pl: ''Janusz I Starszy'') (c. 1347/52 – 8 December 1429), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast in the Masovian branch, from 1373/74 Duke of Warsaw an ...
grant town charter to Zakroczym,
* 1656-1657 - Zakroczym is occupied by Swedish forces (see
Swedish invasion of Poland). The town is partially destroyed,
* 1709 - Zakroczym is burned by Swedish troops during 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-Swedi ...
,
* 1757 - construction of a monastery
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
begins,
* 1793 - the town is seized by the Russians,
* 1795 - Zakroczym becomes part of the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
in 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 Polish ...
,
* 1806 -
French forces cross the Vistula near Zakroczym, before the
Battle of Pułtusk
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
,
* 1807 - Zakroczym becomes part of the Polish
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 ...
,
* 1815 - Zakroczym becomes part of
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
,
* 1831 - after Russian capture of Warsaw, meetings of Polish government and
Sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
take place at the monastery,
* 1883-1888 - construction of Fort 1 Zakroczym, first ring of fortifications of the
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress ( pl, Twierdza Modlin) is one of the largest 19th-century fortresses in Poland. It is located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, approximately 50 kilometers north of Warsaw. It was o ...
,
* 20 August 1915 - Russian garrison of the fortress capitulates to Germans,
* 1918 - Poland regains independence after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Zakroczym restored to Poland,
* 10–28 September 1939 -
Battle of Modlin
]
The Battle of Modlin was a battle that took place during the 1939 German invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War. Modlin Fortress was initially the headquarters of the Modlin Army until its retreat eastwards. From 13 to 29 ...
between Poland and Germany during the German-Soviet
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, which started
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 ...
,
* 28 September 1939 -
Massacre in Zakroczym
The Massacre in Zakroczym, 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 ...
,
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 ...
soldiers kill around 600
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
civilians and
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
by firing squad,
* December 1939 - local Polish parish priest Antoni Więckowski deported by the Germans to the
Soldau concentration camp
The Soldau concentration camp established by Nazi Germany during World War II was a concentration camp for Polish and Jewish prisoners. It was located in Działdowo (german: Soldau), a town in north-eastern Poland, which after the Nazi-Soviet inva ...
and murdered there,
* January 1940 - 40 Poles from Zakroczym, including pre-way mayor Tadeusz Henzlich, murdered by the Germans in the
Palmiry massacre
The Palmiry massacre was a series of mass executions carried out by Nazi German forces, during World War II, near the village of Palmiry in the Kampinos Forest northwest of Warsaw.
Massacres
Between December 1939 and July 1941 more than 1700 ...
,
* November 1941 - Last remaining
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
deported by the German Nazis to the
ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
at
Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki
Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki , often simply referred to as Nowy Dwór, is a town in east-central Poland with ca. 42500 inhabitants (2008). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Warsaw Voivodeship (1975-1998), War ...
,
* 1944 - Germans create a transit camp for 30,000 residents of Warsaw, deported from the city after the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
,
* 1945 - end of
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
and
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 ...
, as a result of which 78% of the town is destroyed.
Sights
![Church of the Capucine Friars in Zakroczym](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Church_of_the_Capucine_Friars_in_Zakroczym.png)
*
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
-
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (15th or 16th century), rebuilt after World War II in 1949. In its northern and southern walls there are Swedish cannonballs,
*
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
Capuchin monastery and church of Saint Lawrence,
* a monument dedicated to insurgents of
1830 and
1863, and to victims of the war,
* castle hill, with a 19th-century manor house, built on 15th-century foundations. Original manor house was built before 1422 by Mazovian dukes,
* traces of an 11th-century
gord, located northeast of town, on a high bank of the Vistula. The gord, first mentioned in 1065, was burned in late 13th century, and later rebuilt.
* Fort Nr. 1 Zakroczym (1883-1888).
Transport
The
Expressway S7 and
National road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...
62 run through the town, and the
Warsaw Modlin Airport
Warsaw Modlin Airport is an international airport located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, approximately 40 km (25 miles) north of central Warsaw, Poland. The airport is intended to be used by low-cost carriers serving Warsaw. As of 201 ...
is located just east of the town.
Cuisine
The Zakroczym area is one of the places of
cherry cultivation in Poland, which is one of the
world's main cherry producers. Cherry products such as ''podchmielone wisienki zakroczymskie'' (cherries covered with
syrup
In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...
and spirit) and ''konfitura wiśniowa zakroczymska'' (a local type of traditional Polish cherry
jam
Jam is a type of fruit preserve.
Jam or Jammed may also refer to:
Other common meanings
* A firearm malfunction
* Block signals
** Radio jamming
** Radar jamming and deception
** Mobile phone jammer
** Echolocation jamming
Arts and ente ...
) are officially protected
traditional food
Traditional foods are foods and dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national dish, regio ...
s of Zakroczym, as designated by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.
References
External links
Jewish Community in Zakroczymon Virtual Shtetl
Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship
Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki County
Masovian Voivodeship (1526–1795)
{{NowyDwórMazowiecki-geo-stub