Komańcza ( uk, Команча, ''Komancha'') is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the Sanok County, in the

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it i ...

(

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

) 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 ...

. It is situated in the Bukowsko Upland mountains, located near the towns of

Medzilaborce Medzilaborce ( rue, Міджілабірцї, ''Midzhilabirtsyi''; uk, Міжлабірці, ''Mizhlabirtsi''; hu, Mezőlaborc) is a town in northeastern Slovakia close to the border with Poland, located near the towns of Sanok and Bukowsko (in ...

and Palota (in northeastern

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 ...

Etymology

According to some sources its name comes from the east Slavic dialect word ''Kuman'' (''кумани''), meaning "village of

Cumans The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...

History

The village was first mentioned in historical records in 1512 as ''Crziemyenna'', and in 1524 as ''Komancza''. In 1785, the village lands comprised , with a population of 450 Greek Catholics, 16 Roman Catholics, and 15 Jews. After

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 village was the site of the ephemeral

Komancza Republic The Komancza Republic, also known as the Eastern Lemko Republic, Vyslik Republic, and Lemko Republic, was a short-lived microstate, an association of thirty three Lemko villages, seated in Komańcza in the east of the Lemko Region, that existed ...

(November 1918 – January 1919). In 1936, the

Greek Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine C ...

population increased to 878. In 1945 the Ukrainian parish priest, Orest Venhrynovych, was murdered by the Poles, and in 1946 the village was burned down ]Patronage of the B. V. Mary
/ref> when many local citizens were forcibly deported to the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

. Others were removed from Komancza on 29 April 1947 as part of

Operation Vistula Operation Vistula ( pl, Akcja Wisła; uk, Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was a codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians (Boykos and Lemkos) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the Recovered Te ...

and moved to the

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...

n area of Poland.

Culture and religion

The wooden village church, "Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary", is considered a pearl of Eastern

Lemko 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 C ...

architecture. It was built in 1802, and was on the Polish Register of Historic Buildings. The church was occupied by the Greek Catholics until 1963, when it was taken over by the Orthodox. Uniate (Greek Catholic) services were then held in a Roman Catholic Chapel, until a new Uniate church was built in 1987. The old wooden church was totally destroyed by fire on 13 September 2006, but the belfry is still standing. A number of liturgical books, dated from 1638 to 1793, were also severely damaged or destroyed in the fire. Filial churches are located in Czystohorb ( away) and Dołżyca (). Congregatio Sanctae Familiae de Nazareth in Komańcza

Congregatio Sanctae Familiae de Nazareth in Komańcza

Hiking trail

European walking route E8 The E8 European long distance path or E8 path is one of the European long-distance paths, leading 4,700 km (2,920 miles) across Europe, from Cork in Ireland to Bulgaria. Route After Ireland it crosses the Irish Sea into Wales and then in ...

Prešov Prešov (, hu, Eperjes, Rusyn and Ukrainian: Пряшів) is a city in Eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj) and Šariš, as well as the historic Sáros County of the Kingdom of Hungary. With ...

- Miháľov - Kurimka -

Dukla Dukla is a town and an eponymous municipality in southeastern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 2,017. The total area of the commune is . Dukla belongs to Lesser Poland, and until the P ...

- Iwonicz-Zdrój – Rymanów-Zdrój -

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,4 ...

– Tokarnia () – Kamień () – Komańcza - Cisna -

Ustrzyki Górne Ustrzyki Górne (; uk, Устрики Горішні, ''Ustryky Horišni'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lutowiska, within Bieszczady County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, close to the border with ...

- Tarnica - Wołosate.

References

External links