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pl:Białowieża
Białowieża is a village or a small town in Poland, in Podlasie Voivodship, in the middle of Biebrza Marshes and Białowieża Forest, for which it is a namesake. Population of the settlement is 2000 (2002).
Geographic Location
Bialowieza is located in the north-eastern Poland in Podlasie Voivodship near the border with Belarus. The nearest city is Białystok, which is the capital of the voivodship. Białowieża is also connected to a town of Hajnówka some 20 km away.
Bialowieża is the capital of Białowieża commune which encompases an area of 203 km² and population of 3068 (2000). Other villages in Bialowieża area are Budy, Gródek, Pogorzelce, Teremiski and Zastawa.
History
- For a more detailed history of Białowieża and the area see: Białowieża Forest
Before 1426 a wooden hunting manor for king Władysław Jagiełło was built in the middle of the Białowieża Forest on the Lutownia stream. It was most probably one of the first permanent settlements in the area, although the forest was already penetrated by hunters from the nearby areas and by the king himself who used to hunt there. The wooden manor was painted in white and became the namesake both for the future village and the forest (Białowieża means White Tower in Polish).
Since 1538 the forest was protected by laws of king Sigismundus the Old. However, until the times of Jan Kazimierz the forest was mostly unpopulated. Sporadic settlements were established in various places, but the manor in Białowieża was the only one to be permanent. In late 17th century several small villages were started for development of local iron ore deposits and tar production. The villages were populated with settlers from Masovia and Podlachia and many of them still exist.
After the Partitions of Poland the local population was turned into serfs and Białowieża quickly depopulated. Tsar Alexander I reintroduced the reserve in 1801 and hired a small amount of peasants for protection of the animals. Most of them were settled in the administrative centre of the area - Białowieża. However, since most of the forresters took part in the November Uprising (500 out of 502 in total), their posts were abolished and protection was again harmed. Yet again the village of Białowieża ceased to exist. Protection was reintroduced in 1860 and the village was repopulated with Russians.
During the World War I most of the local Russian population fled before the advancing German army which seized the area in August 1915. The Germans built a lumber mill in Białowieża and connected it with railway to the nearby town of Hajnówka. However, the village did not recover until 1921 when the Białowieża National Park was established. The village became the administrative centre of the Park and one of the most popular tourist attractions of the area.
During the World War II after the German occupation of Poland the area got under Soviet occupation. In 1939 most of the local inhabitants were arrested and sent to Gulag. They were replaced with Russian forest workers, but in 1941 the forest got under German occupation and the Russian inhabitants were also deported. Hermann Göring planned to create the biggest hunting reserve in the world there, but those plans were never made true. Since July 1941 the forest became a refuge for both Polish and Soviet partisans. German authorities organized mass executions of people suspected of aiding the resistance. In July 1944 the area was captured by the Red Army. Withdrawing Wehrmacht blew up the historical Białowieża hunting manor.
After the war Białowieża yet again recovered and became the centre of the re-established National Park in 1947. Nowadays it is one of the least populated areas in Poland, while at the same time it is one of the most important tourist attractions in Eastern part of the country with almost 100 000 visitors every year. The Reserve was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992 and internationally recognised as a Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in 1993.
Sites of interest
- Białowieża National Park
- Palace park (Park Palacowy) - covering the area of 47 hectares, built in 1890. Its a park in English style with a large view to Bialowieża National Park. Upon the ponds there is an obelisk for the memory of hunting in 1752 when king Augustus III hunted in Bialowieża forests. There are also several tsarist red brick buildings from the 19th century, and a gate which is the only remnant of the wooden manor.
- Ecological Museum (Muzeum Przyrodniczo-Leśne im. prof. Jana Miklaszewskiego) - museum of natural history
- St. Nicholas the Miraculous' Orthodox Church - with a unique iconostasis from Chinese porcelain.
- Open-air folk museum (Skansen) - with original huts, windmills and wells
- PTTK Tourist House
- Graveyard Chapel of St. Cyril (Kaplica św. Cyryla) - from 1873 with an 18th century icon.
See also:
External links:
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