Lewków - a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, located in the

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland (''Wielkopolska'' ). The modern province includes most of this historic re ...

, Ostrów County, Ostrów Wielkopolski Commune. Lewków is located about 6 km northeast of

Ostrów Wielkopolski Ostrów Wielkopolski () (often abbreviated ''Ostrów Wlkp.'', formerly called simply ''Ostrów'', , Latin: ''Ostrovia'') is a city in west-central Poland with 70,982 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship; the seat of Ostr ...

, on the Niedźwiada River. About 1 km west of Lewków, in Michałków, there is the airport of the Ostrowski Aero Club.

History

The first mention of Lewków comes from 1403. For a long time, the village was owned by the Koźmiński family, but in the 18th century it often changed owners (Sokolniccy, Gorzeńscy, Krzyżanowski). In 1786, purchased by Wojciech Lipski of the

Grabie coat of arms Grabie (Polish for "Rake") is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by many ''szlachta'' (noble) families in the Kingdom of Poland and later also in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, including the Grabias which is the Lithuanised form of the ...

(noble coat of arms), adjutant of King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

. In the 1840s, the poet Roman Zmorski hid here, with

Józef Lipski Józef Lipski (5 June 1894 – 1 November 1958) was a Polish diplomat and Ambassador to Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1939. Lipski played a key role in the foreign policy of the Second Polish Republic. Life Lipski trained as a lawyer, and joined th ...

. It remained in the hands of the Lipski family until the outbreak of World War II. In 1928, Lewków was visited by President

Ignacy Mościcki Ignacy Mościcki (; 1 December 1867 – 2 October 1946) was a Polish chemist and politician who was the country's president from 1926 to 1939. He was the longest serving president in Polish history. Mościcki was the President of Poland when Ge ...

. The last pre-war owners of Lewków were Jan Lipski and his brother, Józef Lipski, the last ambassador of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(1934–1939). Postman Ludwik Danielak was baptized in Lewków in 1909 in the church of St. Saint Wojciech. His father, Walenty Danielak, lived in Lewków in the years 1916–1924 and then was a councillor of

Zduny Zduny () is a town in west-central Poland, in Krotoszyn County in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 4,551 inhabitants as of 2011. Location Zduny lies in western part of Kalisz Upland, about from Krotoszyn and about from Ostrów Wielkopols ...

, a social activist known in the region. In September 1939, Ludwik Danielak performed tasks for the state's defence. He died on September 7 near the village of Modlna and was shot by Wehrmacht soldiers: the 31st Infantry Regiment of the 24th German Division. He was in a postman's uniform and had no weapon. He organized scouting in Zduny and the surrounding area of Baszków in the years 1925–1931. Before 1887, the town belonged administratively to the Odolanów district. In the years 1954–1972, the village belonged to and was the seat of the authorities of the Lewków community. in the years 1975–1998 to the

Kalisz Voivodeship Kalisz Voivodeship may also refer to: *Kalisz Voivodeship (1314–1793) * Kalisz Voivodeship (1816–1837) *Kalisz Voivodeship (1975–1998) The Kalisz Voivodeship was a voivodeship (province) of the Polish People's Republic from 1975 to 1989, an ...

, and in the years 1887–1975 and from 1999 to the Ostrów County.

Monuments

* Lipski Palace from 1788-91. The Palace Museum reopened after renovation in 2022. * Church of St. Wojciech, built in 1844–1846 on the site of the previous wooden temple, funded by Salomea Lipska and her grandson Wojciech Lipski,

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

with

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

interior furnishings from 1871–1872, **

Altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

with a painting of ''St. Anna Samotrzeć with St. Jan'', a copy of a painting by Bartolome Murillo made by Leon Kapliński, **

Chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

with

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

from the 19th century,

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

walls and a marble

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

, ** Wrought iron grate at the passage from the

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

to the church, decorated with a Regency-style ornament with the date 1732 and the initials of the Ołobok abbess Katarzyna Pawłowska, purchased in 1817 from the Cistercian church in Ołobok, ** The church tomb of the Lipski family with the inscription: ''To Wojciech Lipski 1805-1855, democrat and politician, fighter for Poland's independence, creator of the junior high school in Ostrów on the 125th anniversary of 1845-1970'', ** Church cemetery with monumental trees and two erratic boulders connected in the shape of a table, measuring 1.7 by 1 m in total, ** Wall with decorative vases and figures.

References

{{Gmina Ostrów Wielkopolski Villages in Ostrów Wielkopolski County