Medyka (; uk, Медика, Medyka) 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 ...

Przemyśl County __NOTOC__ Przemyśl County ( pl, powiat przemyski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland, on the border with Ukraine. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a re ...

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it i ...

, in south-eastern

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 ...

, on the border with

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. It is the seat of the municipality (

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

) called

Gmina Medyka __NOTOC__ Gmina Medyka is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, on the border with Ukraine. Its seat is the village of Medyka, which lies approximately east of Przemyśl ...

. It lies approximately east of

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was p ...

and east of the regional capital

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ; la, Resovia; yi, ריישא ''Raisha'')) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów has been the capital of the Subcarpathian ...

. In 2006 the village had a population of approximately 2,800.

History

The village dates back to 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 castle existed there already in the 14th century. It was expanded in 1542 by

Piotr Kmita Sobieński Piotr Kmita Sobieński ( la, Petrus Kmita; born 1477 – died 31 October 1553) was a Polish nobleman, Grand Marshal of the Crown from 1529, voivode (governor) and starosta of Kraków, starosta of Spisz (1522 – 1553), Przemyśl, Koło and caste ...

(1477-1553)

Starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. The ...

. In 1607 the Roman Catholic St Peter and Paul timber church was erected and in 1663 the settlement was granted Starostwo status. There was also a

Greek Catholic Church The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

. Medyka was occupied by

Habsburg Austria The term Habsburg Austria may refer to the lands ruled by the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, or the historical Austria. Depending on the context, it may be defined as: * The Duchy of Austria, after 1453 the Archduchy of Austria * The '' Erblande' ...

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 ...

in 1772 and remained within

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 ...

until the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. From 1809 the village became the property of the Pawlikowski family. They built a manor house on the ruins of the ancient castle and for generations maintained in their family seat a cultural centre with a valuable library and historical collections. In 1830 (1793-1852) established on his estate the first school of horticulture in the

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...

and a dendrological collection in his laid out park. The manor house was damaged both in 1915 and 1939 Fortuitously, part of its cultural heritage was donated to what became the Ossolineum Institute in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

and survived. It includes a single page containing a Polish version of

Psalm 50 Psalm 50, a Psalm of Asaph, is the 50th psalm from the Book of Psalms in the Bible, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down ...

, known as the '' Karta medycka'', from the early 15th century, discovered in Medyka in 1832 by historian and collector, (1793-1855). The Polish 23rd Observation Escadrille was stationed in Medyka during the joint 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 af ...

, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in September 1939. Afterwards the village was occupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, under which it was annexed to the newly formed

Drohobych Oblast Drohobych Oblast ( uk, Дрогобицька область, translit=Drohobytska oblast; December 4, 1939May 21, 1959) was an oblast in the Ukrainian SSR. It had a territory of 9.6 thousands of km³ and, as of 1956, population of 853,000. Histo ...

of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

. From 1941, it was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, and from 1944 by the Soviet Union. It was eventually restored to Poland in 1948 during a revision of borders. The British society portrait painter and illustrator, Aniela Pawlikowska, was married to the last proprietor of Medyka, (1887-1970), a bibliophile, writer, and publisher who lived, worked and raised their family there, before being routed from their home by invading forces in

. They eventually settled in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Synagogue

A brick-built rectangular

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

, ' was erected in the village at the beginning of the 20th century. As its congregation, it was devastated by Nazi invaders during World War II.

Border crossing

Medyka is one of the main road border crossings between Poland and

, along with a major railway line running through the village, connecting both countries. The village across the border in Ukraine is Shehyni. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

, Medyka is one site welcoming Ukrainian refugees who crossed the border.

Gallery

Medyka, kościół Świętych Piotra i Pawła (HB2).jpg,

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movemen ...

RC timber church of Sts. Peter and Paul Церква Преображення Господньго у Медиці.jpg, Etching of Greek-Catholic church in Medyka Manor house in Medyka (11).jpg, Front of the Pawlikowski Manor house in Medyka Manor house in Medyka (6).jpg, Lake in the Medyka Manor house park Medyka, cmentarz grobowiec Pawlikowscy.jpg, Pawlikowski family mausoleum in Medyka cemetery

References

{{Przemyśl-geo-stub Poland–Ukraine border crossings Villages in Przemyśl County

History

Synagogue

Border crossing

Gallery

See also

References