Wenecja (; Polish for "

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

") is a village in the administrative district of

Gmina Żnin __NOTOC__ Gmina Żnin is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Żnin County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. Its seat is the town of Żnin, which lies approximately south-west of Bydgoszcz. The gmina covers a ...

, within

Żnin County __NOTOC__ Żnin County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pass ...

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) in Poland. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian is one of 13 Polish constituency of the European Parliament. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly is the regional legislature of t ...

, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of

Żnin Żnin (; , 1941–45: ) is a town in north-central Poland with a population of 14,181 (June 2014). It is in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (previously Bydgoszcz Voivodeship) and is the capital of Żnin County. The historical town, initially es ...

and south-west of

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

. The village gained city status in 1392, but lost it before 1400. Its location among three

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s (Biskupinskie, Weneckie, Skrzynka) resulted in its name alluding to the

lagoon of Venice The Venetian Lagoon (; ) is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea, in northern Italy, in which the city of Venice is situated. Its name in the Italian and Venetian languages, ' (cognate of Latin ' ), has provided the English name for an enclosed, ...

, Italy. The village, dubbed "the pearl of Pałuki", is one of the greatest tourist attractions in the

Pałuki Pałuki () is a historic and ethnographic region lying in central Poland, part of Greater Poland neighbouring Pomerania and Kuyavia. In terms of administrative division the region lies in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship and Greater Poland Voivo ...

region. Wenecja is located on the line of the

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

running from the town of Żnin to famous

Biskupin Biskupin () is an archaeological site and a life-size model of a late Bronze Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland that also serves as an archaeological open-air museum. When first discovered it was thought to be early evidence of a ...

and further on to Gąsawa. The

Narrow Gauge Railway Museum The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (Welsh (language), Welsh: ''Amgueddfa Rheilffyrdd Bach Cul'') is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow-gauge railways situated at the station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales. The museum has ...

and the

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of the 14th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

attract tourists to the village.

History

In the 14th century, the settlement belonged to the Nałęczów family. At that time it was called Mościska, which Mikołaj Nałęcz changed to Wenecja after his return from his studies in Venice. He also ordered the construction of a defensive castle and a church, in the place of which there is currently a 19th-century church. In the 14th century, Venice received city status, but this was removed in later years.

Demographics

In the years 1975–1998 the town belonged to the

Bydgoszcz Voivodeship Bydgoszcz Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Statistics Capital city: Bydgoszcz Area: 10,359 Statistics (1998): P ...

. According to the 2021 National Census, it had 424 inhabitants. It is the eighth largest town in the Żnin commune.

Tourist attractions

– its collections include, among others: 17 steam locomotives, a snow plow and a sand spreader * Castle Ruins *

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church from the 19th century *

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

manor from the 19th century * Grave of Walenty Szwajcer (discoverer of the

settlement) Venice is located on the Piast Trail. The Żnin District Railway also runs through it, although it currently no longer functions as a regular means of transport for local residents. It is a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

with a rail gauge of only 600 mm, which makes them the narrowest public railway tracks in Europe. During the tourist season, it is possible to take a train ride on the route: Żnin–Wenecja–Biskupin– Gąsawa.

References

External links

Urząd Miejski - Żnin Town Hall

Starostwo Powiatowe - Żnin County Office

The Archaeological Museum in Biskupin

The Narrow Gauge Railway Company in Żnin

Muzeum Ziemi Pałuckiej - The Museum of the Pałuki Land in Żnin
{{Authority control Villages in Żnin County

History

Demographics

Tourist attractions

See also

References

External links