Skawina is a town in southern Poland with 27,328 inhabitants (2008). Situated in the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province (in pl, województwo małopolskie ), also known as Małopolska, is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). It was created on 1 ...

(since 1999), previously in

Kraków Voivodeship Kraków Voivodeship may also refer to: *Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) * Kraków Voivodeship (1816–1837) *Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) *Kraków Voivodeship (1945–1975) *Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998) The Kraków Voivodeshi ...

(1975–1998). The town is located on the

Skawinka Skawinka is a river in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Poland, right tributary of the Vistula River with a length of and a drainage basin of . The average discharge is ( from the mouth). Its sources are located on the slopes of in the Maków ...

river, in close proximity to the city of Kraków. Its population (as for December 31, 2010) was 23,761, and the area of the town is 20,50 km². One of the most interesting historic buildings in Skawina is a Renaissance palace, built in the mid-16th century by Paweł Korytko. The name of the town probably comes from the Skawinka river.

History

In the late 13th century, three villages existed here: ''Babice Nowe'', ''Babice Stare'' and ''Pisary''. They belonged to the

Tyniec Tyniec is a historic village in Poland on the Vistula river, since 1973 a part of the city of Kraków (currently in the district of Dębniki). Tyniec is notable for its Benedictine abbey founded by King Casimir the Restorer in 1044. Etymology ...

Benedictine Abbey. In the Middle Ages, the Skawinka marked for a while the boundary between Silesia and Lesser Poland, which resulted in construction of a defensive gord, which protected the city of Kraków from the south. On May 22, 1364, King Kazimierz Wielki granted Magdeburg rights to Skawina, and a few years later, the parish church of Holy Spirit was funded here. Skawina was the seat of a wójt, and remained in the hands of the Benedictine monks. The town had a

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

and a castle, which was the residence of the wójt. In 1509, Skawina burned in a fire, but the town was quickly rebuilt and enjoyed the prosperity of the Polish Golden Age. Good times ended in 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 ...

, when Swedish and Transilvanian armies destroyed Skawina, reducing its population by 50%. After the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

, Skawina became part of Austrian province of

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

(1772). The town remained poor and backward until the second half of the 19th century, when Skawina became a railroad hub, with three lines, to Kraków,

Sucha Beskidzka Sucha Beskidzka (before 1961 called only ''Sucha'') is a town in the '' Beskid Żywiecki'' mountain range in southern Poland, on the Skawa river. It is the county seat of Sucha County. It has been in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999; p ...

, and Oświęcim. A brewery was built and new businesses were opened. SKAWINA 1908 FranzI

In the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

Skawina belonged to the

. On September 6, 1939 the first Wehrmacht troops entered the town, and the German occupation lasted until January 23, 1945. During this time, the Germans murdered nearly all of the town's pre-war population of around 300 Jews. Some where murdered nearby while others were rounded up and sent to the killing camp of Belzec where they were immediately gassed. A few were sent to labor camps near Plaszow where most were later murdered too. Those who hid from the roundup were later shot in the town. The Communist government of

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

decided that Skawina would become a center of heavy industry. In 1954, the ''Skawina Aluminum Works'' (''Huta Aluminium Skawina'') were opened, and in 1961 the Skawina Power Station (''Elektrownia Skawina'') went on line. The aluminium works were closed in 1981 due to the widespread pollution they caused. The growth of industry resulted in an influx of new residents and the construction of several apartment blocks in new districts of the town.

Twin Towns – Sister Cities

Skawina is twinned with: * Civitanova Marche in Italy ''(since 2005)''

Sports

Skawina is home to sports club ''Skawinka'', founded in 1922.

External links

Jewish Community in Skawina
on Virtual Shtetl

References

;Notes

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Kraków County Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939)