Morasko is a part of the Stare Miasto district of

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, in western

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 covers a fairly large but little-urbanised area in the north of the city. To the west and north it borders on the village and municipality of

Suchy Las Suchy Las is a village in Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Suchy Las. It lies just north of the regional capital Poznań Poznań () is ...

, a developing area of suburban housing. To the east of Morasko are the neighbourhoods of Umultowo and Radojewo, and to the south is the densely built residential area of Piątkowo. For governmental purposes, Morasko is part of the ''

osiedle Osiedle (Polish plural: ''osiedla'', from German ''Ansiedlung'' meaning ''settlement'') is a term used in Poland to denote a designated subdivision or neighbourhood of a city or its dzielnica, or of a town, with its own council and executive. Li ...

'' of Morasko-Radojewo.

History

Morasko is first mentioned in 1388, as belonging to the parish of Chojnica, although there was probably a settlement there as early as the 11th century. A wooden church was built in the village (then known as ''Morawsko'') in 1403, and it functioned as a separate parish for a time, but in 1507 it was reincorporated into Chojnica parish. A mansion was built in Morasko in 1783–1786, in late

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

style. Between 1857 and 1887 (with the region now under

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

n rule) this was extended, in

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

style, and a park was laid out around it. At the beginning of the 20th century Morasko was given the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

name ''Nordheim''. A

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church was built there in 1907, and in 1930–1931 (with the region again part of Poland) a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church was built. In 1945 the village of Chojnica ceased to exist, being part of the

Biedrusko Biedrusko is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Suchy Las, within Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies on the Warta river, approximately north of the regional capital Poznań. In 2006 the vi ...

military area, and Morasko became the Catholic parish seat (the parish also including Radojewo to the east). The former Protestant church became the parish church, the Church of the Beheading of St.

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. The former Catholic church is disused and in disrepair. The west part of the mansion is also in disrepair, while the east part is used as a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

by the Missionary Sisters of Christ the King ''(Siostry Misjonarki Chrystusa Króla)''.

Geography

The village of Morasko and surrounding areas (particularly those of Huby Moraskie to the south) were incorporated into the city of Poznań in 1987. The village now lies near the city's northern boundary. In the south-east of the wider Morasko area is a complex of buildings belonging to

Adam Mickiewicz University Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, used mainly for

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

teaching. West of Morasko village is the Morasko meteorite nature reserve, a forest area containing a group of depressions believed to be meteorite craters. Also within this reserve is ''Góra Moraska'' (Morasko Hill), whose summit is Poznań's highest point, with an altitude of . An avenue of trees along the road leading from the village to the reserve is designated as a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...

. A stream called ''Strumień Różany'' or ''Różany Potok'' ("Rose Stream") flows eastwards, south of Huby Moraskie, in the direction of the Warta river. It gives its name to the large housing estate ''Osiedle Różany Potok'', which lies to the east of the university complex.

Gallery

File:Moraskok.jpg, Disused Catholic church. File:Poznan Morasko 115-17.jpg, Convent within the old mansion. File:Moraskoke.jpg, Former Protestant church, now the Catholic parish church.

References

* ''Poznań od A do Z. Leksykon krajoznawczy'', Poznań 1998,
{{coord, 52.482775, 16.899606, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Neighbourhoods of Poznań