Gniezno (pronounced: ['gɲȋεznɔ] (help·info)) is a town in
central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by
about 73,000 people. Situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999),
previously in Poznań Voivodeship. It is the administrative capital of the
Gniezno County (powiat).
History
There are archaeological traces of human settlement since the late Paleolithic. Early
Slavonic settlements are on the Lech Hill and the Maiden Hill are dated to 8th century. At the beginning of 10th century there
were located important place for Slavic religious. The ducal stronghold was founded just before AD 940 on the Lech Hill, and
surrounded with some fortified suburbs and open settlements.
Legend of Lech, Czech and Rus
According to the Polish version of legends: three brothers Lech, Czech and Rus were exploring the wilderness to find a
place to settle. Suddenly they saw a hill with an old oak and an eagle on top. Lech said: this white eagle I will adopt as an
emblem of my people, and around this oak I will build my stronghold, and because of the eagle nest [Polish: gniazdo] I
will call it Gniezdno [modern: Gniezno]. The other brothers went further on to find a place for their people. Czech went to the
South (to found the Czech Lands) and Rus went to the East (to create
Russia and Ukraine).
Cradle of the Polish state
In 10th century Gniezno became one of the main towns of the early Piast dynasty,
founders of Polish state.
Gniezno meeting 1000
It is here that the Congress of Gniezno took place in the year 1000 AD, during which Boleslaus I the Brave (Polish: Bolesław Chrobry), duke of Poland, received Emperor
Otto III, the emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire. The emperor and the duke celebrated the foundation of the Polish ecclesiastical province (archbishopric) in
Gniezno, with newly established bishopric in Kołobrzeg for Pomerania; Wrocław for Silesia;
Kraków for Little Poland and later also already existing
since 968 bishopric in Poznań for western Greater Poland. In 1024 Boleslaus I crowned himself the king of Poland (according to other version, this
occurred in 1000 or 1025).
Royal coronation site
Mediaeval seal of Gniezno.
The 10th century Gniezno cathedral witnessed royal coronations of Boleslaus I the Brave in 1024, his son Mieszko II Lambert in
1025. The cities of Gniezno and nearby Poznań were captured, plundered and destroyed in 1038 by
the Bohemian duke Bretislav I, which pushed the
next Polish rulers to move the Polish capital to Kraków. The archiepiscopal cathedral was
reconstucted by the next ruler Boleslaus II of Poland who was crowned king here in
1076.
In the next centuries Gniezno evolved as a regional seat of the eastern part of Greater Poland, and in 1238 municipal autonomy
was granted by the duke Władysław Odonic. Gniezno was again the coronation site in
1295 and 1300.
Regional site of Greater Poland
The city was destroyed again by the Teutonic Knights invasion in 1331, and after an
administrative reform became a county within the Kalisz Voivodeship (since 14th
century till 1768). Gniezno was hit by heavy fires in 1515, 1613, was destroyed during the Swedish
invasion wars of the 17th-18th centuries and by a plague of 1708-1710. All this caused depopulation and economic decline, but the
city was soon revived during the 18th century to become the Gniezno voivodship in
1768.
Archbishops of Gniezno
-
Gniezno's Roman Catholic archbishop is
traditionally the Primate of Poland (Prymas Polski). After the
partitions of Poland the see was often combined with others, first with Poznań and
then with Warsaw. In 1992 Pope John Paul II reorganized the Polish hierarchy and the city once again had a separate bishop. Cardinal
Józef Glemp, who had been archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw and retained Warsaw, was
designated to remain Primate until his retirement, but afterward the Archbishop of Gniezno, at present Henryk Muszyński, would again be Primate of Poland.
Royal coronations in Gniezno cathedral
Historical population
- 1912: 25,339 inhabitants
- 1980: 62,400 inhabitants
- 1990: 70,400 inhabitants
- 1995: 71,000 inhabitants
Education
- Collegium Europaeum Gnesnense (part of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan)
- The Gniezno School of Humanism and Management - Millennium (Gnieźnieńska Wyższa Szkoła
Humanistyczno-Menedżerska Millennium)
- The Archbishop's Ecclesiastical Seminary (Arcybiskupie Seminarium Duchowne)
Arts and culture
- Aleksander Fredro Theatre (Teatr im. A. Fredry)
- Museum of the Polish State Origins (Muzeum Początków Państwa Polskiego)
Twin towns
Anagni, Esztergom, Falkenberg, Saint-Malo, Speyer,
Radviliškis, Roskilde, Uman,
Veendam
See also
External links
- Gniezno homepage (English and German version
also available), The official site of the Gniezno City's Administration, from which much of the above was taken and adapted.
- Gniezno Poviat The official
site of the Gniezno District, which comprises 9 "gmina".
- Urząd Gminy Gniezno The official site of
the Gniezno Gmina "community" administration.
Coordinates:
52°33′N,
17°36′E
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