Waśniów is 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 ...

Ostrowiec County __NOTOC__ Ostrowiec County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pa ...

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship ( ), also known as Holy Cross Voivodeship, is a voivodeship (province) in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland. The province's capital and largest city is Kielce. The voivodeship takes its ...

, in south-central 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 Waśniów __NOTOC__ Gmina Waśniów is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Ostrowiec County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. Its seat is the village of Waśniów, which lies approximately west of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and ...

. It lies in historic

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 west of

Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (), often referred to as Ostrowiec, is a city in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland, with 66,258 residents (as of 2021). The town is one of the historic centers of Polish industry and metallurgy ...

and east of the regional capital

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. Waśniów is one of the oldest villages in the area. It had the status of a town from 1351 to 1869, and its name (also spelled as Waśniów) comes from a Slavic language word "wasn", which means an argument. The village was first mentioned in the year 1145, as Vasnov, later Wasnowe, and Wasnow. Following the order of Duke

Mieszko III the Old Mieszko III ( 1122/25 – 13 March 1202), sometimes called the Old, was Duke of Greater Poland from 1138 and High Duke of Poland, with interruptions, from 1173 until his death. He was the fourth and second surviving son of Duke Bolesław III W ...

, Waśniów, together with its market place, was granted to the Archbishops of

Gniezno Gniezno (; ; ) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County (''powiat'') ...

. Soon afterwards, in 1147, the village passed into the hands of

Canons Regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

from

Trzemeszno Trzemeszno is a town in Gniezno County in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It is situated on the eastern shore of the Popielewskie Lake, and is one of the oldest settlements in the region. Etymology The town's name derives from a ...

. On January 7, 1351, King

Kazimierz Wielki 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 ...

granted Sroda Slaska town charter to Waśniów. In the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, Waśniów belonged to 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 ...

. The town was located along ancient merchant routes from

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

and Opatow towards central Poland. In 1409, during the

Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War The Polish–Lithuanian — Teutonic War, also known as the Great Teutonic War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied History of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired ...

, it was visited by King Wladyslaw Jagiello, and in 1432, Waśniów passed into the hands of the Wachock Abbey. Despite additional privileges, granted to it by King

Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

in 1467, Waśniów remained a small town, which furthermore burned in 80%, in a great fire in 1523. The fire put an end to its development, and further destruction was brought by 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 ...

(1656), as well as the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

(1705). After the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, Waśniów briefly belonged to the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, and in 1815 – 1915, it was part of Russian-controlled

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of 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 was established w ...

. In 1827, the town had a population of 295, with 42 houses. During the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

Marian Langiewicz Marian Langiewicz, full name Marian Antoni Melchior Langiewicz (; 5 August 1827 – 11 May 1887), was one of the leaders of the Polish January Uprising against the Russian Empire in 1863. Biography He was born in the province of Posen, as the s ...

stayed in the area of WasnWaśniówiow. Several skirmishes took place here between Russian soldiers and Polish rebels, and as a punishment, Waśniów was stripped of town charter in 1869. In the late 19th century, the village was located in Opatow County, and had a population of 386. By the 1920s, already in

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 ...

’s

Kielce Voivodeship Kielce Voivodeship () is a former unit of administrative division and the local government in Poland. It was originally formed during Poland's return to independence in the aftermath of World War One, and recreated within the new Polish borders af ...

, Waśniów had a population of 580. It did not have a train station, the nearest one was and still is located 14 kilometers away, at

Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski Ostrowiec may refer to several places: *Ostrowiec, Grodno Region, a town in Western Belarus ** Ostrowiec District, administrative region in Western Belarus *Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a town and county seat in south-central Poland **Ostrowiec Cou ...

(known then as Ostrowiec nad Kamienna). Among points of interest at Waśniów is the parish Church of Saints Peter and Paul, whose existence was first mentioned in 1145. In 1656, the wooden church was replaced by a brick, late

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 ...

complex, with a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

interior. In 1882 the church was expanded, and in 1971–1975 it was restored. In 1633, in a

folwark ''Folwark'' is a Polish word derived from the German ''Vorwerk''. A Folwark or Vorwerk is an agricultural estate or a separate branch operation of such an estate, historically a serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise (a type of latif ...

called Gaj, located near Waśniów, a prominent Polish language poet Wespazjan Kochowski was born. He dedicated one of his poems to Waśniów.

References

{{Gmina Waśniów Villages in Ostrowiec County