Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the
Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
with 38,397 inhabitants, as of June 2016.
Located on the
San River and around 52 km south of
Przemyśl
Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was p ...
, Sanok lies directly by the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...
.
Once settled by Poles,
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Lemkos
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
, the town's history goes back almost 1000 years when it was part of a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
trade route. The
Museum of Folk Architecture as well as the refurbished
Sanok Castle
The Sanok Royal Castle was built in the late 14th century in Sanok, Poland. The castle is situated on the San River at hill 317 m above sea level on a steep slope. Today it is the seat of the Sanok Historical Museum.
History
The first mention of ...
and Old Town are popular points of interest.
The region also features a 70 km trail for
hikers
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histo ...
and cyclists.
Geography
The city of Sanok is the capital of
Sanok County in the
Subcarpathian Voivodeship in Poland. Previously, it was in the
Krosno Voivodeship
Krosno Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1975–1998, superseded by Subcarpathian Voivodeship (except Biecz Commune which is now a part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship). Its capital city ...
(1975–1998) and in the
Ruthenian Voivodeship
The Ruthenian Voivodeship (Latin: ''Palatinatus russiae'', Polish: ''Województwo ruskie'', Ukrainian: ''Руське воєводство'', romanized: ''Ruske voievodstvo''), also called Rus’ voivodeship, was a voivodeship of the Crown o ...
(1340–1772), which was part of the
Red Ruthenia region, and in wider sense, of the
Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown
Lesser Poland Province ( pl, Prowincja małopolska, la, Polonia Minor) was an administrative division of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1795 and the biggest province of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The name of the pro ...
(not of
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...
proper). Historically, it was part of the ''
Land of Sanok''.
This historic city is situated on the
San River at the foot of
Castle Hill in the
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...
(''Małopolska'') region. It lies in a wooded, hilly area near the national road number 28, which runs along southern Poland, from
Ustrzyki Dolne
Ustrzyki Dolne (; yi, Istrik, uk, Устри́ки-Долі́шні, translit=Ustrýky-Dolíshni) is a town in south-eastern Poland, situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999) close to the border with Ukraine. It is the capital of ...
to
Wadowice ( away). It is located in the heartland of the
Pogórze Bukowskie
, photo=Pogorze nadolany.jpg
, photo_caption=A view from Bukowica Peak in western Nowotaniec.
, country= Poland
, parent=Doły Jasielsko Sanockie in Gmina Bukowsko, Gmina Besko, Gmina Sanok, Gmina Lesko, Gmina Komańcza, border=Bieszczady ...
part of
Doły (Pits), and its average elevation is
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''.
Th ...
, although there are some hills located within the confines of the city.
Sanok is located on the bank of the river San. The area surrounding mountain range stretches between the
Wisłok
Wisłok is a river in south-eastern Poland, a tributary of the San River, with a length of 220 kilometres and a basin area of 3,538 km2 (all in Poland). The root of the name ''Vis-lok'' is Indo-European or pre-Indo-European.
The first meta ...
,
Osława
The Osława (Czech: ''Oslava'', german: Oslawa, Ukrainian: ''Ослава'') is a river in South-Eastern Poland. Its name comes from the ancient west Slavic dialect word ''osła'', meaning "stone". It begins in the Bieszczady mountains and flow ...
and
San Rivers in the
Salt Mountains (
Central Beskidian Piedmont
The Central Beskidian Piedmont ( pl, Pogórze Środkowobeskidzkie) is a geographical region in southeastern Poland. It lies north of the Central Beskids, and belongs to the Outer Eastern Carpathians, representing the northernmost region of the Ca ...
), in the inland with
temperateness
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
climate. The hills of the
Bieszczady mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...
are typical for this countryside. Sanok County is bordered by
Krosno County to the west,
Brzozów County
__NOTOC__
Brzozów County ( pl, powiat brzozowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gove ...
to the north,
Przemyśl County to the north-east and
Lesko County to the east. It also borders
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
to the south.
Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the Oslawa and San Rivers line was designated the ''wild frontier'' between Poles and
Lemkos.
The city is a member of
Carpathian Euroregion, which is designed to bring together the people who inhabit the region of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...
and to facilitate their cooperation in the fields of science, culture, education, trade, tourism and economy.
History
In 981, Sanok along with several other
Cherven gords, then inhabited by the
Slavic tribe of
Lendians, was made a part of
Red Ruthenia, when
Vladimir I of Kiev invaded the area and took it over from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. In 1018, the settlement along with the surrounding region returned to Poland, and in 1031, was again recaptured by Rus'. In 1339, the town was given the
Magdeburg law by
Boleslaw-Yuri II of Galicia
Yuri II Boleslav ( uk, Юрій-Болеслав Тройденович, translit=Yurii-Boleslav Troidenovych; pl, Bolesław Jerzy II; c. 1305/1310 – April 7, 1340), was King of Ruthenia and Dominus of the lands of Galicia–Volhynia (1325- ...
.
Sanok was mentioned in the Ruthenian
Hypatian Codex chronicle, where one can read that in the year 1150: ''The Hungarian King
Géza II of Hungary
Géza II ( hu, II. Géza; hr, Gejza II; sk, Gejza II; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child ...
crossed the mountains and seized the stronghold of Sanok with its governor as well as many villages in the
Przemyśl
Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was p ...
area''. The same chronicle refers to Sanok twice more, stating that in 1205 it was the meeting place of a Ruthenian princess Anna and a Hungarian king, and that in 1231 a Ruthenian prince made an expedition to "Sanok - ''Hungarian Gate''".
During the
Galicia–Volhynia Wars, Sanok was seized by King
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 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, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He w ...
, who reconfirmed its municipal status on 25 April 1366, and made it a
royal city
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a ...
of the Polish Crown. At that time Sanok became the centre of a new administrative district called
Sanok Land
Sanok Land ( pl, ziemia sanocka, ) was a historical administrative division unit ('' ziemia'') of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 14th-18th centuries. It consisted of land that now belongs to the powiats (counties) of: Sanok, Brzo ...
, a part of the
Ruthenian Voivodeship
The Ruthenian Voivodeship (Latin: ''Palatinatus russiae'', Polish: ''Województwo ruskie'', Ukrainian: ''Руське воєводство'', romanized: ''Ruske voievodstvo''), also called Rus’ voivodeship, was a voivodeship of the Crown o ...
. Several courts of justice operated in the town, including the municipal and rural courts of lower instance and also the higher instance court for the entire Sanok Land, based on the
German town law
The German town law (german: Deutsches Stadtrecht) or German municipal concerns (''Deutsches Städtewesen'') was a set of early town privileges based on the Magdeburg rights developed by Otto I. The Magdeburg Law became the inspiration for regiona ...
. Germans settled in the territory of the
Kingdom of Poland (territory of present-day
Subcarpathian Voivodeship) from the 14th to 16th centuries (''see
Ostsiedlung
(, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had a ...
''), mostly after the region returned to Poland in 1340, when
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 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, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He w ...
took the
Czerwień towns.
Marcin Bielski states that
Bolesław I the Brave
Bolesław I the Brave ; cs, Boleslav Chrabrý; la, Boleslaus I rex Poloniae (17 June 1025), less often known as Bolesław the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025, and the first King of Poland in 1025. He was also Duke of Bohemia betwe ...
had settled some Germans in the region to defend the borders against Hungary and Kievan Rus', who later turned to farming.
Maciej Stryjkowski
Maciej Stryjkowski (also referred to as Strykowski and Strycovius;Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN. t. 6, 1997 – ) was a Polish historian, writer and a poet, known as the author of ''Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Rutheni ...
mentions German peasants near
Przeworsk,
Przemyśl
Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was p ...
, Sanok, and
Jarosław, describing them as good farmers. The region was also traditionally inhabited by subgroups of the
Rusyn people:
Lemkos and
Boykos
The Boykos ( uk, Бойки, Boiky; pl, Bojkowie; sk, Pujďáci), or simply Highlanders (верховинці, ''verkhovyntsi''), are an ethnolinguistic sub-group of Ukrainians located in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Slovakia, Hung ...
.
As early at the 17th century, an important
trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...
went across Sanok connecting the interior of Hungary with Poland through the
Łupków Pass
Łupków Pass or Lupkov Pass ( pl, Przełęcz Łupkowska, sk, Lupkovský priesmyk) is a significant mountain pass in the Carpathian Mountains on the border between Poland and Slovakia, and close to the western border of Ukraine. Its highest ...
. As a result of the
First Partition of Poland (Treaty of St-Petersburg dated 5 July 1772, Sanok was attributed to the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
. At that time the area (including west and east of Subcarpathian Voivodship) became known as the
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
province. For more details, see the article
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.
In the mid-18th century, 47.7% of the town's population was Roman Catholic (Polish), 36.4% Jewish, and 14.7% Greek Catholic (Ruthenian).
The
Galician peasant revolt took place in the region during the
revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europ ...
.
The course of the river
Dunajec
The Dunajec (); Goral dialects: ''Dónajec'') is a river running through northeastern Slovakia and southern Poland. It is also regarded as the main river of the Goral Lands. It is a right tributary of the Vistula River. It begins in Nowy Targ at t ...
and that of the
San, both in West Galicia, marked the two successive stages in the breakthrough battle which initiated the Austro-German offensive of 1915 on the eastern front. An attempt to hold the line of the Wisłok river and the
Łupków Pass
Łupków Pass or Lupkov Pass ( pl, Przełęcz Łupkowska, sk, Lupkovský priesmyk) is a significant mountain pass in the Carpathian Mountains on the border between Poland and Slovakia, and close to the western border of Ukraine. Its highest ...
failed before renewed Austro-German attacks on 8 May 1915.
Wisłok
Wisłok is a river in south-eastern Poland, a tributary of the San River, with a length of 220 kilometres and a basin area of 3,538 km2 (all in Poland). The root of the name ''Vis-lok'' is Indo-European or pre-Indo-European.
The first meta ...
Valley was one of the strategically important Carpathian rivers bitterly contested in battles on the
Eastern Front of World War I during the winter of 1914–1915.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the Russian army occupied the town from May until July, 1915 and significantly damaged the town. The town was subsequently occupied by troops of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
.
In 1918 Poland regained independence and control of the town and within the interwar
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 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...
it was the seat of the Sanok County in the
Lwów Voivodeship. Sanok was known as a centre of
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
movement in
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
, and of
cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soc ...
of the
Lemkos
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
and other
Rusyns
Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct lang ...
.
The Jewish population of Sanok may have been almost 30% for many years in the early 20th century. During the joint German–Soviet
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
, which started
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, in September 1939, it was invaded by Germany, and the ''
Einsatzgruppe I'' entered the town on September 25, 1939 to commit various
atrocities against the populace. In 1939–1940, the Germans imprisoned many Poles in the local prison, especially those who tried to escape occupation to take refuge in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
.
[Wardzyńska, p. 258] The Germans then massacred 112 Poles at the Gruszka mountain near
Tarnawa Dolna.
[ The victims are buried at the Central Cemetery in Sanok. At the beginning of the ]German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the Jewish population was around 5,000. During the occupation, most of the Jews were either executed or killed in Nazi death camps or Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...
during the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
. Some of the actions against the Jews were assisted by Ukrainian auxiliaries and hundreds of the deaths occurred in Sanok itself, while the Polish resistance movement established the secret Polish Council to Aid Jews "Żegota", which operated in the town. Buildings that had been owned by Jews were taken by the local population. The local Jewish cemetery still exists. Several hundred Jews are thought to have survived, most of whom fled to the Soviet Union at the beginning of the war. Some of the Jews emigrated to Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
in the early 1900s with Sanoker Burial Societies spreading throughout New York and other regions where they settled.
In 1943 the foundation of the Waffen-SS Division Galizien took place in heavily Ukrainian-populated Sanok, with many locals volunteering in the ethnic Ukrainian Waffen-SS. Because of material support and assistance provided by the Ukrainian minority to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which was waging a battle for Ukrainian separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
against the Polish state, new Soviet-installed communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
authorities deported the Ukrainian and Lemko population of Sanok and its region to the Recovered Territories attached to Poland after World War II during Operation Vistula (1946–1947). Some of the Lemkos expelled returned to Sanok in 1957-58 and others after 1989.
Sanok contains an open-air museum called a skansen in the Biała Góra district, where examples of architecture from all of the region's main ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
s have been moved and carefully reassembled in a skansen evoking everyday rural life in the 19th century.
Archaeology
Settled in prehistoric times
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
, the south-eastern Poland region that is now Subcarpathia was overrun in pre-Roman times by various tribes, including the Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
(Anarti
The Anartes (or Anarti, Anartii or Anartoi)Jan Czarnecki (1975) 120 were Celtic tribes, or, in the case of those sub-groups of Anartes which penetrated the ancient region of Dacia (roughly modern Romania), Celts culturally assimilated by the Dacia ...
), Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
and Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
(Przeworsk culture
The Przeworsk culture () was an Iron Age material culture in the region of what is now Poland, that dates from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It takes its name from the town Przeworsk, near the village where the first artifacts w ...
and Púchov culture). In the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, the area was inhabited by the Polish tribe of Lendians, and the area was also invaded by Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...
, before it eventually became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century.
The region subsequently became part of the Great Moravia
Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to ...
n state. Upon the invasion of the Hungarian tribes
The Magyar tribes ( , hu, magyar törzsek) or Hungarian clans were the fundamental political units within whose framework the Hungarians (Magyars) lived, before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the subsequent established the Pr ...
into the heart of the Great Moravian Empire around 899, the Lendians of the area declared their allegiance to Hungarian Empire. The region then became a site of contention between Poland, Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...
and Hungary starting in at least the 9th century.
The first traces of settlement in the area of modern Sanok date back to at least the 9th century. The following century a Slavic fortified town ('' gord'') was created there and initially served as a center of pagan worship. The etymology of the name is unclear, though most scholars derive it from the Celtic river-name '' San''. Certain archaeological excavations
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
performed on the castle hill and on ''Fajka hill'' near Sanok- Trepcza, not only confirm the written resources, but date the Sanok stronghold origin to as early as the 9th century. On Fajka hill, where probably the first settlement of Sanok was situated, some remains of an ancient sanctuary and a cemetery were found, as well as numerous decorations and encolpions in Kievan type. Also found were two seals
Seals may refer to:
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
of the Great Kievan Prince Rurik Rostislavich Rurik Rostislavich (Russian and Ukrainian: Рюрик Ростиславич) (died 1215), Prince of Novgorod (1170–1171), Belgorod Kievsky (currently Bilohorodka; 1173–1194), Grand Prince of Kiev (Kyiv, 1173, 1180–1181, 1194–1201, 1203–1 ...
from the second half of the 12th century.
Sights
* Skansen in Sanok - detailed houses, churches, cerkiews (Orthodox/ Uniate churches of Lemkos
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
, Boykos
The Boykos ( uk, Бойки, Boiky; pl, Bojkowie; sk, Pujďáci), or simply Highlanders (верховинці, ''verkhovyntsi''), are an ethnolinguistic sub-group of Ukrainians located in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Slovakia, Hung ...
etc.)
* Sanok castle
The Sanok Royal Castle was built in the late 14th century in Sanok, Poland. The castle is situated on the San River at hill 317 m above sea level on a steep slope. Today it is the seat of the Sanok Historical Museum.
History
The first mention of ...
and Icon collection - one of the largest collections of this in Central and Eastern Europe.
* Town square/Rynek
* Parish Church dating to the 19th century
* Franciscan Church dating to the 14th century.
Near the central town square and the previous Jewish ghetto, there is a valley where much of the Jewish population was murdered en masse by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Economy
Sanok has a strong industry base - home to Stomil Sanok (established in 1932) and Pass Gummiwerke plants, producers of various rubber and metal-rubber seals, strings and laggings for automotive sector, construction industries and electrical household goods sector, PGNiG
Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. ( en: Polish Oil Mining and Gas Extraction S.A.), abbreviated to PGNiG, is a Polish state-controlled oil and gas company, headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. The company has branches and representative ...
and Sanok Bus Car Factory "Autosan
Autosan Sp. z o.o. is a Polish bus and coach manufacturer. The company is located in Sanok, Poland.
Its sales network includes European (also non-EU countries), African and Asian countries.
Currently it produces approximately 300 buses a ...
" (established in 1832), a producer of high capacity buses, cabins for the Polish Army and bodies for rail-vehicles. Stomil is next to the main train station in Sanok and Autosan is a 10-minute walk from the station, while the town centre is a 15-minute walk in the other direction.
Culture and education
The town has several public schools and a branch of the Polish High School of Technology. The town also has a football club called Stal Sanok and some other sport clubs
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
(including volleyball, swimming, handball, ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
). The Sanok Castle
The Sanok Royal Castle was built in the late 14th century in Sanok, Poland. The castle is situated on the San River at hill 317 m above sea level on a steep slope. Today it is the seat of the Sanok Historical Museum.
History
The first mention of ...
near the centre of the old town houses a museum displaying over 300 fine icons. The Museum of Folk Architecture is one of the biggest open-air museums in Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and show cases 19th and early 20th century life in this area of Poland.
Sport
The city has two professional sports teams. The local ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
team is STS Sanok
STS Sanok is an ice hockey team in Sanok, Poland. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Slovak 2. Liga, the third tier of ice hockey in Slovakia. The team was inactive during the 2016–2017 season due to financial difficulties. Before t ...
, which has won the Polska Hokej Liga
The Polska Hokej Liga is the premier ice hockey league in Poland. Previously, it was known as the I Liga or Ekstraklasa from 1926 to 1999, and the Polska Liga Hokejowa from 1999 to 2013. In 2013, it was reorganized as a limited liability company ...
league title twice, in the 2011/2012 and 2013/2014 season. They won the Polish Cup twice, in 2010-11 and 2011–12. The local football club is Stal Sanok, which competes in the lower leagues.
There many sports facilities in Sanok and the main complex of those facilities is The Civic Sports and Recreation Centre, situated near the San River. The Centre includes: the artificial speed skating oval Tor Błonie, a complex of indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a hotel, a tourist hostel, a camp-site, a sports stadium with technical facilities, etc. There is also another artificial ice rink in the centre of the town, designed for ice hockey and managed by the ice hockey club STS Sanok
STS Sanok is an ice hockey team in Sanok, Poland. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Slovak 2. Liga, the third tier of ice hockey in Slovakia. The team was inactive during the 2016–2017 season due to financial difficulties. Before t ...
. There are two more sports facilities at Stróżowska street: a stadium of sports club Stal Sanok, and a gymnasium of the Technical Schools Complex.
In winter, a ski-lift operates in the nearby Karlików
Karlików ( uk, Карликів, ''Karlykiv''; rue, Карликів, ''Karlykiv'') is a village situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodship (province) of south-eastern Poland; previously in Krosno Voivodship (1975-1998) and Sanok district, ( east ...
.
Notable people
* Katarzyna Bachleda-Curuś (born 1980), speed skater
*Tomasz Beksiński
Tomasz Sylwester Beksiński (26 November 1958 – 24 December 1999) was a popular Polish radio presenter, music journalist and movie translator. He was the son of painter Zdzisław Beksiński.
Early life
Beksiński was born in Sanok, Poland. F ...
(1958–1999), radio presenter
* Zdzisław Beksiński (1929–2005), painter, photographer, sculptor
* Adam Fastnacht (1913–1987), Polish historian
* Jan Grodek (?–1554), nine-time rector of Jagiellonian University
* Szlomo Halberstam (1847–1905), first Bobover Rebbe
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritu ...
* Mikołaj Kamieniecki(1460–1515), nobleman
*Juliusz Kühl
Juliusz Kühl also known as Julius or Yehiel Kühl (born June 24, 1913 in Sanok, Poland, died February 13, 1985 in Miami, United States) was a Polish diplomat, Holocaust rescuer and – after the World War II – Canadian construction busine ...
(1913–1985), Polish diplomat
* Piotr Michalski (born 1994), speed skater
* Jerzy Mniszech (c. 1548–1613), nobleman
* Ryszard Pacławski (born 1958), lawyer
* Marian Pankowski (1919–2011), resistance fighter of World War II
* Zdzisław Peszkowski (1918–2007), survivor of the Katyn massacre
* Majer Szapira (1887–1933), first Orthodox Jew to become a member in the Sejm (Parliament)
*Kazimierz Świtalski
Kazimierz Stanisław Świtalski (; 4 March 1886, Sanok – 28 December 1962, Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish politician, diplomat, soldier, military officer in the Polish Legions and 18th Prime Minister of Poland between April and December 1929.
Ea ...
(1886–1962), politician and diplomat
* Tadeusz Vetulani (1897–1952), agriculturalist and biologist
* Frank-Wojnarowski (1921–1966), American Polish Orchestra leade
Demographics
In the mid-18th century, Roman Catholics constituted 48.7% of the population, people of Jewish faith 36.5%, and 14.7% of the inhabitants belonged to the Greek Catholic Church.[J. Motylkiewicz. "Ethnic Communities in the Towns of the Polish-Ukrainian Borderland in the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries". C. M. Hann, P. R. Magocsi ed. ''Galicia: A Multicultured Land''. ]University of Toronto Press
The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911.
The press originally printed only examination books and the university cale ...
. 2005. p. 37.
In 1900, the town had 6123 inhabitants, 57% Polish, 30% Jewish of various ethnicities (Boyko
The Boykos ( uk, Бойки, Boiky; pl, Bojkowie; sk, Pujďáci), or simply Highlanders (верховинці, ''verkhovyntsi''), are an ethnolinguistic sub-group of Ukrainians located in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, ...
, Lemkos
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
, Rusyn
Rusyn may refer to:
* Rusyn people, an East Slavic people
** Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people
** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
* Rusyn language, an East Slavic l ...
, Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sou ...
etc.), and others. The town's large population of Jews were almost all murdered during the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
.
;Ethnic Groups
*Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...
See also
* Folk Dance Ensemble Sanok
* The Petroleum Trail International Tourist Trail
References
External links
Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, official website
Szpital Specjalistyczny w Sanoku
Sanok
at KehilaLinks
*
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Podkarpackie Voivodeship
Sanok County
Ruthenian Voivodeship
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Lwów Voivodeship
Magdeburg rights
Holocaust locations in Poland