Siemiatycze ( uk, Сім'ятичі ''Simiatychi'', be, Сямятычы ''Siamiatyčy'') is a town in 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 15,209 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Białystok Voivodeship (1975–98). It is the capital of Siemiatycze County. The history of Siemiatycze dates back to the mid-16th century, when the village was part of the

Podlasie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship ( province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest ...

of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

. In 1542, King Sigismund II Augustus granted town charter to Siemiatycze, and with the 1569 Union of Lublin, it became part of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. For centuries Siemiatycze remained property of several Polish-Lithuanian magnate families. The town, conveniently located along the Bug River, and near local administrative centers at Drohiczyn and Mielnik, became a popular market place, where farmers sold their produce. Disastrous

Swedish invasion of Poland The Deluge ( pl, potop szwedzki, lt, švedų tvanas) was a series of mid-17th-century military campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce ...

(1655-60) did not bring widespread destruction to Siemiatycze. The town continued to prosper, at the expense of other municipalities of the region of Podlachia, all of which burned to the ground by the Swedish, Transilvanian and Russian invaders. In the 18th century, Siemiatycze was among most developed towns of the region. At that time it belonged to the Sapieha family, which founded the town hall, hospital, synagogue, Christian monastery, palace with a museum and other buildings. In 1807 Siemiatycze was annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, and during January Uprising, the Battle of Siemiatycze took place here, after which most of the town was destroyed, together with the Jabłonowski Palace, which has never been rebuilt. Siemiatycze was to a large extent destroyed 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 ...

, and its significant Jewish community was almost completely exterminated by Germans in

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 ...

. After the war, the population of the town shrank to 4,000.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Siemiatycze is twinned with: * Castrolibero,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Zehdenick Zehdenick is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Havel, southeast of Fürstenberg/Havel, and north of Berlin (centre). Since 31 July 2013, the city has the additional appellation "Havelstadt ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Podlaskie Voivodeship Siemiatycze County Podlachian Voivodeship Belsky Uyezd (Grodno Governorate) Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939) Belastok Region Holocaust locations in Poland