Przecław is a small

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Mielec County __NOTOC__ Mielec County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland. Its administrative seat and largest town is Mielec, which lies north-west of the regional capital ...

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshal, it is governed by the Subcarpathian Regional As ...

, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

(administrative district) called Gmina Przecław. It lies in

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

, approximately south of

Mielec Mielec () is the largest city and County seat, seat of Mielec County. Mielec is located in south-eastern Poland (Lesser Poland), in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Województwo Podkarpackie). The population of Mielec in December 2021 was 59,509. ...

and north-west of the regional capital

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) 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 is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

. Its population is 1,775.

History

First known mention of the town of Przecław comes from the year 1419, as earlier documents have not been preserved. Located on the edges of

Sandomierz Forest Sandomierz Forest () is one of the biggest forests in southern Poland; covering large parts of the Sandomierz Basin. Its name comes from the historical city of Sandomierz, and in the Middle Ages its eastern edge created a natural border between Le ...

, it was then spelled as ''Przedzlaw''. It is not known when Przecław received its

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

town charter, probably sometime in the 14th century, during the reign of King

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great (; 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, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

. The history of a slavic settlement here dates back much earlier. Due to a convenient defensive location, on a hill dominating the valley of the

Wisłoka The Wisłoka is a river in south-eastern Poland, and a tributary of Vistula River. It is long and has a basin area of . Its highest elevation is , while the lowest point in the valley of the river Wisłoka lies at an elevation of above sea ...

, Przecław was a gord, with a church already there in the 12th century. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the Wisłoka river bed reached Przecław's eastern boundary, creating a natural protection for both the gord and the church. From the west, it was protected by dense, swampy forests, with numerous rivers, streams and ponds. In the late 14th century, the town belonged to Jan Ligęza, and by the mid-15th century, Przecław had a parish school, a mill, a castle, a town hall and a mayor with a council. In 1461 the town had a

wójt A wójt is the highest administrative officer of a Polish ''rural gmina'', i.e., of a commune (''gmina'') comprising only villages. (The head of a town or city is called, respectively, the ''burmistrz'' or "president".) History and etymology T ...

, belonging to the noble Ligęza family. Przecław was a small town, with only 40 houses as of 1536. It burned in 1548, and by 1555 a new town hall was built. In 1582, King Stephen Bathory allowed the owners of the town to organize two additional fairs a year. Przecław was famous for its blacksmiths, butchers and clothmakers. In the early 17th century, the town had a population of 800, with a number of streets and a stone bridge connecting Przecław with the castle. In 1622, the population was decimated by an

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

, and on November 25, 1624, half of the buildings burned in a fire (54 houses burned, 47 were saved). The epidemic returned in 1652, and during the

Swedish invasion of Poland The Deluge 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 of Andrusovo in 1667, comprising the Pol ...

, Przecław was completely destroyed in 1656. By 1660, its population shrank to 116. The town never recovered from the destruction. The parish school, originally founded in 1454 by Zbigniew Oleśnicki, closed in 1721. Przecław was a

private town Private towns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were privately owned towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights and princes, among others. Amongst the most well-known former private magnate towns are Białystok, Zamość, R ...

, administratively located in the

Sandomierz Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship (, ) 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 Poland region and the Lesser Poland Province. Originally Sandomier ...

in the Lesser Poland Province. From the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

in 1772 to the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1918, the town was part of the Austrian province of Galicia. In 1919, the government of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

reduced Przecław to the status of a village. In the interwar period, it belonged to Kraków Voivodeship. Following the German-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in September 1939, Przecław was occupied by Germany. Przecław regained its town charter on January 1, 2010.

Przecław Castle

It is not known when the

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

castle was built. Originally it was made of wood, and by 1578 it belonged to the Ligeza family. In the late 16th century it was purchased by the

Koniecpolski family The House of Koniecpolski (plural: Koniecpolscy) is the name of an old and once powerful Polish noble family. History The Koniecpolski was a magnate family. The family appears in the historical annals beginning in the 15th century. The family ...

, which built a new, stone structure. In 1658, the castle was bought by Governor Wladyslaw Rey. The castle remained in the hands of the aristocratic Rey family until its confiscation by the communist regime in 1944. The Rey family had been active during the war in the anti-German underground movement

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

and its organisation Tarcza OpiekaMichał Zółtowski, "Tarcza Rolanda" (Roland's shield), Editor Znak, Cracow 1988, page 117 providing shelter to fugitives, including Jews, and material support to the Polish Resistance.

members and landowners were persecuted after the war by the communist regime, and the Rey family had to go into exile to France. The castle has not been returned to its former owners and is currently a restaurant and hotel open to visitors.

History

Przecław Castle

See also