Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a
voivodeship
A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...
, or
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
, in west-central
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. The province is named after the region called
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland.
The bound ...
(''Wielkopolska'' ). The modern province includes most of this historic region, except for some western and northern parts.
Greater Poland Voivodeship is second in area and third in population among Poland's sixteen voivodeships, with an area of and a population of close to 3.5 million. Its capital city is
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
; other important cities include
Kalisz,
Konin,
Piła,
Ostrów Wielkopolski,
Gniezno (an early capital of Poland) and
Leszno. It is bordered by seven other voivodeships:
West Pomeranian
Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (; ), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania, located mostly in north-eastern Germany, with a small portion in no ...
to the northwest,
Pomeranian to the north,
Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-east,
Łódź
Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
to the south-east,
Opole to the south,
Lower Silesian to the southwest and
Lubusz to the west.
History
Greater Poland, sometimes called the "cradle of Poland," formed the heart of the 10th-century
early Polish state.
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
and
Gniezno were early centers of royal power, but following the region's devastation by
pagan rebellion in the 1030s, and an invasion by
Bretislaus I of Bohemia in 1038, the capital was moved by
Casimir the Restorer from Gniezno to
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
.
The two cities are seats of Poland's oldest diocese (
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
, est. in 968) and archdiocese (
Gniezno, est. in 1000), playing a crucial role in the
Christianization of Poland.
In the
testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth, which initiated the period of fragmentation of Poland (1138–1320), the western part of Greater Poland (including Poznań) was granted to
Mieszko III the Old. The eastern part, with Gniezno and
Kalisz, was part of the
Duchy of Kraków, granted to
Władysław II the Exile. However, for most of the period the two parts were under a single ruler, and were known as the
Duchy of Greater Poland (although at times there were separately ruled duchies of Poznań, Gniezno,
Kalisz and
Ujście). It was one of the leading and fastest developing regions of Poland, with
municipal rights modeled after Poznań and Kalisz becoming the basis of municipal form of government for several towns in the region, as two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights. The region came under the control of
Władysław I the Elbow-High in 1314, and thus became part of the reunited Poland of which Władysław was crowned king in 1320.
In the reunited kingdom, and later in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
, the country came to be divided into administrative units called
voivodeship
A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...
s. In the case of the Greater Poland region these were
Poznań Voivodeship and
Kalisz Voivodeship. The Commonwealth also had larger subdivisions known as ''
prowincja'', one of which was named
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland.
The bound ...
. However, this ''prowincja'' covered a larger area than the Greater Poland region itself, also taking in
Kuyavia,
Masovia and
Royal Prussia. (This division of
Crown Poland into two entities called Greater and
Lesser Poland had its roots in the
Statutes of Casimir the Great of 1346–1362, where the laws of "Greater Poland" – the northern part of the country – were codified in the
Piotrków statute, with those of "Lesser Poland" in the separate
Wiślica statute.)
In 1768, a new
Gniezno Voivodeship was formed out of the northern part of Kalisz Voivodeship. However more far-reaching changes would come with the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
. In the first partition (1772), northern parts of Greater Poland along the
Noteć (German ''Netze'') were taken over by
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, becoming the
Netze District. In the second partition (1793) the whole of Greater Poland was absorbed by Prussia, becoming part of the province of
South Prussia. It remained so in spite of the first
Greater Poland Uprising (1794), part of the unsuccessful
Kościuszko Uprising directed chiefly against the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
.
More successful was the
Greater Poland Uprising of 1806, which led to the region's becoming part of the Napoleonic
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...
(forming the
Poznań Department and parts of the
Kalisz and
Bydgoszcz Departments). However, following the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
in 1815, Greater Poland was again partitioned, with the western part (including Poznań) going to Prussia. The eastern part joined the Russian-controlled
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
, where it formed the
Kalisz Voivodeship until 1837, then the
Kalisz Governorate (merged into the
Warsaw Governorate
Warsaw Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of Congress Poland of the Russian Empire.
It was created in 1844 from the Masovia Governorate, Masovia and Kalisz Governorates, and had the capital in Warsaw. In 1867 ter ...
between 1844 and 1867).
Within the Prussian empire, western Greater Poland became the
Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań), which theoretically held some autonomy. Following an unrealized
uprising in 1846, and the more substantial but still unsuccessful
uprising of 1848 (during the
Spring of Nations), the Grand Duchy was replaced by the
Province of Posen. The authorities made efforts to
Germanize the region, particularly after the founding of Germany in 1871, and from 1886 onwards the
Prussian Settlement Commission was active in increasing German land ownership in formerly Polish areas.

Following the end of World War I, the
Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919) ensured that most of the region became part of the newly independent Polish state, forming most of
Poznań Voivodeship (1919–1939). Northern and some western parts of Greater Poland remained in Germany, where they formed much of the province of
Posen–West Prussia (1922–1938), whose capital was Schneidemühl (
Piła).
Following the
German invasion of 1939, Greater Poland was incorporated into
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, becoming the province called
Reichsgau Posen, later Reichsgau Wartheland (''Warthe'' being the German name for the
Warta river). The Polish population was oppressed, with many former officials and others considered potential enemies by the Nazis being imprisoned or executed, including at the notorious
Fort VII concentration camp in Poznań. The Polish population was also subjected to
expulsions,
kidnapping of children and
forced labour. Germany also operated the
Stalag XXI-A,
Stalag XXI-C,
Stalag XXI-D and other
prisoner-of-war camps for Polish,
French, British, Moroccan, Algerian, Dutch, Belgian, Serbian,
Italian, American, Norwegian, and Soviet POWs. Poznań was declared a stronghold city ''(
Festung)'' in the closing stages of the war, being taken by the
Red Army in the
Battle of Poznań, which ended on 22 February 1945.
After the war, Greater Poland was fully within the
Polish People's Republic, as
Poznań Voivodeship. With the reforms of 1975 this was divided into smaller provinces (the voivodeships of
Kalisz,
Konin,
Leszno and
Piła, and a smaller Poznań Voivodeship). The present-day Greater Poland Voivodeship, again with Poznań as its capital, was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
,
Kalisz,
Konin,
Piła and
Leszno Voivodeships, pursuant to the
Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998.
Cities and towns

The voivodeship contains 7 cities and 106 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019
):
Geography
Topography
The relief of Greater Poland, geological conditions and soil have been shaped by two glaciations:
* The Baltic glaciation in the lowlands of northern and central Europe where there are now numerous lakes of the Pomeranian Lake District, a feature especially common in and around
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
and
Gniezno.
* The Mid-glaciation in the southern part of the province, where there is less terrain diversity and a lack of major lakes.
The highest elevation is Greater Kobyla Mountain () in the Ostrzeszowski Hills, the lowest area is located in the valley of the
Warta River at the mouth of its tributary the
Noteć () in the north-western part of the region. Agriculturally fertile soils account for around 60% of the province's area, while 20%, the rest of the non-forested or urban areas, is mostly wetland soil (muck-peat and alluvial soils).
An area of approximately is covered by forests, this represents around 25.8% of the total surface area of the region.
In the lake districts of the northern and central parts of the province there are about 800 lakes; 58% of which cover an area of at least and 8%, with an area exceeding . The largest reservoir is the natural Greater Powidzkie Lake () in the Gniezno Lake District.
Wielkopolska Region lies within the basin of the
Oder River, 88% of the province's surface water drains into the Warta river basin, and the remaining 12% is drained by a multitude of other river systems, including the Barycz, Ladislaus Trench and Obrzycy waterways. The quality of river waters is generally poor, but their condition is gradually improving and should soon be classed as 'clean'.
Geology
The main mineral energy resources in Greater Poland are
lignite,
natural gas,
oil and
peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
.
Brown coal deposits are currently mined in the Konin area, and form the basis for the province's power industry (the Pątnów-Adams-Konin
coal-fired power stations account for more than 10% of the national electricity production). The region also has significant quantities of peat deposits; it is calculated that there are ca. of land covered with an average thickness of of peat. An abundance of raw materials used in the production of numerous medicines was recently discovered in the muds of
Błażejewo,
Oderbank and
Mechnacz. In addition, very large deposits of brown coal have been discovered in the vicinity of
Kościan, these however are not currently being extracted and probably never will be extracted, due to the expense that would be incurred in adapting the site to build a coal mine and the need to resettle thousands of people.
Rock salt is mined intensively at a salt mine in
Kłodawa (this mine alone accounts for about 20% of domestic production).
Throughout the province there are significant deposits of aggregates, gypsum, ceramic materials, and lacustrine chalk. In
Kościan the largest and most modern, a natural gas production site is in operation. It supplies raw material for Kościańska Zieme, and Zielona Gora CHP. It is estimated that at the rate local gas reserves are being exploited, the reserves in Kościan will be enough for about 20 years of operation, thus practically allowing for local independence against the effects of gas crises.
Climate
Wielkopolska is influenced by oceanic air masses that affect the mildness of the climate. The farther east one travels the more distinctly continental the climate becomes. The area is situated in the Silesian Greater Poland agro-climatic region where the average annual temperature is about 8.2 °C, and in the north drops to around 7.6 °C. It is slightly warmer in the south and west where the average temperature is usually about 8.5 °C. The number of days with snow can reach up to 57 days in and around the
Kalisz district.
The growing season is one of the longest in Poland. On the province's southern plains this season constitutes around 228 days, while north of Gniezno and
Szamotuły this gradually declines to 216 days.
Precipitation ranges from 500 to 550 mm. Despite this the region is still faced with a deficit in rainfall, particularly in the eastern part of the province (around Słupcy, Kazimierz Biskupi, Kleczew) where sometimes experience only 450 mm of rainfall per year, this threatens steppization of the region. Throughout the province there is typically a prevailing westerly wind.
Transportation

Greater Poland is a major transport hub within
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
; a great deal of traffic from
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and other states of the
former Soviet Union passes through
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
and
Konin to reach Germany and other EU member states. To the south runs the international route from
Gdańsk via Poznań and Leszno to
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
and then to the south of Europe. There is also a major highway in the province, the
A2 motorway, which when completed will run from the western border of Poland with Germany, through Poznań to
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
and then via
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
to Moscow.
The main railway hubs located in Greater Poland are Poznań,
Piła and
Ostrów Wielkopolski.
PKP Intercity operate a number of trains a day between Warsaw and Berlin which provide a fast connection for the two cities also to Poznań. This route was the first in Poland, adapted for use by the European high-speed transportation system. The
Poznań Główny railway station is the second busiest railway station in Poland.
In the near future the government expects to construct a high-speed rail line in the shape of a Y connecting
Kalisz and Poznań from
Łódź
Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
, Warsaw and
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
.
Poznań is the port of arrival for most international travellers as it plays host to
Ławica International Airport, which has recently seen the second-highest passenger growth rate in the country.
Economy
The
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...
(GDP) of the province was 40.4 billion € in 2018, accounting for 8.1% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,700 € or 65% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 72% of the EU average.
Politics
The Greater Poland voivodeship's government is headed by the province's voivode ''(governor)'' who is appointed by the
Polish Prime Minister. The voivode is then assisted in performing his duties by the voivodeship's marshal, who is the appointed speaker for the voivodeship's executive and is elected by the sejmik ''(provincial assembly)''. The current voivode of Greater Poland is Łukasz Mikołajczyk, whilst the present marshal is Marek Woźniak.
The Sejmik of Greater Poland consists of 39 members.
2018 local elections
Governors
Administrative division
Greater Poland Voivodeship is divided into 35 counties (
s): 4 city counties and 31 land counties. These are further divided into 226
gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...
s.
The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population).
Protected areas
Protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
s in Greater Poland Voivodeship include two
National Park
A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
s and 12
Landscape Parks. These are listed below.
*
Drawno National Park (partly in
Lubusz and
West Pomeranian Voivodeship
West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals , and in 2021, it was inhabited by 1,682,003 people.
It was established on 1 Janua ...
s)
*
Greater Poland National Park
*
Barycz Valley Landscape Park (partly in
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986.
It is one of the wealthiest ...
)
*
Chłapowski Landscape Park
*
Lednica Landscape Park
*
Powidz Landscape Park
*
Promno Landscape Park
*
Przemęt Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
*
Pszczew Landscape Park (partly in Lubusz Voivodeship)
*
Puszcza Zielonka Landscape Park
*
Rogalin Landscape Park
*
Sieraków Landscape Park
*
Warta Landscape Park
*
Żerków-Czeszewo Landscape Park
Sights

Greater Poland Voivodeship boasts 11
Historic Monuments of Poland:
* Gorzeński Palace and park complex in
Dobrzyca
*
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
Basilica on the Holy Mountain, Głogówko
*
Royal Gniezno Cathedral
* Manor and park complex in
Koszuty
*
Kórnik Castle and park complex with the
All Saints' Church in
Kórnik
*
Ląd Abbey
* Benedictine Monastery with the
Romanesque-Gothic-Baroque Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in
Lubiń
*
Ostrów Lednicki
*
Poznań Old Town with the
Ostrów Tumski, and the adjacent
Park Cytadela and
Fort Winiary
* Baroque Raczyński Palace and park complex in
Rogalin
*
Rydzyna Old Town with the Baroque
Rydzyna Castle
The province is rich in historic architecture ranging from
Romanesque and
Gothic to
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
,
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
. Numerous towns possess preserved historic market squares and town halls. The voivodeship is abundant in palaces, including in
Antonin (often visited by
Fryderyk Chopin),
Czempiń,
Kobylniki,
Kołaczkowo (former home of
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
-winning novelist
Władysław Reymont),
Objezierze (visited by writers
Adam Mickiewicz and
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski) and
Śmiełów (former place of stay of Adam Mickiewicz).
There are numerous World War II memorials in the province, including memorials at the sites of Nazi massacres of Poles, and museums at the sites of the former
Chełmno extermination camp,
Fort VII concentration camp in Poznań, and prison camp in
Luboń. The
Władysław Golus Regional Museum in Ostrzeszów, a town which was the location of the main German-operated prisoner of war camp for Norwegian POWs in occupied Poland during the war, hosts an exhibition devoted to the history of the Norwegian POWs.
Poland's largest church, the
Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń, is located in the voivodeship.
There is an underground touristic route in the
Kłodawa Salt Mine, considered the world's deepest underground tourist route.
One of the two principal and five total cemeteries of the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
in Poland is located in Poznań, with more than 400 burials from both world wars.
The oldest preserved European signpost beyond the boundaries of the former
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
is located in
Konin.
Iglesia de Todos los Santos, Kórnik, Polonia, 2016-12-21, DD 14.jpg, All Saints' Church, Kórnik
Smielow Palace 2019 P01.jpg, Palace in Śmiełów
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Licheń, Stary Licheń, Polonia, 2016-12-21, DD 33-35 HDR.jpg, Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń
Konin. Najstarszy w Polsce drogowskaz 1.jpg, Old signpost in Konin
Pałac Szołdrskich w Czempiniu - Elewacja ogrodowa.jpg, Szołdrski Palace in Czempiń
Cuisine

In addition to traditional nationwide
Polish cuisine, Greater Poland Voivodeship is known for its variety of regional and local
traditional foods and drinks, which include especially various meat products (incl. various types of
kiełbasa),
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
s,
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
s, beverages and various dishes and meals, officially protected by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland. Among the most known local
snacks are the
St. Martin's croissant from
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
and
Kalisz andruts.
Notable centers of traditional meat production include
Grodzisk Wielkopolski,
Krotoszyn,
Kruszewnia,
Nowy Tomyśl,
Ostrzeszów,
Rawicz,
Trzcianka and
Złotniki, whereas centers of traditional cheese and
quark
A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...
production include
Wągrowiec,
Gniezno,
Kępno,
Oborniki,
Witkowo,
Witoldzin and
Września.
Grodzisk Wielkopolski is the place of origin of the
Grodziskie beer style. Other traditional
Polish beers, officially protected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, are produced in
Bojanowo,
Czarnków and
Miłosław.
Sports
Football and
speedway enjoy the largest following in the province, with top football clubs being
Lech Poznań and
Warta Poznań, and Poland's most accomplished speedway team being
Unia Leszno.
Since the establishment of the province, several international sports competitions were co-hosted by the province, including the
EuroBasket 2009 and
UEFA Euro 2012.
Szczypiorno,
Kalisz is considered the cradle of
Polish handball.
Curiosities
*In the 16th-17th centuries, there were sizeable
Scottish communities in
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
and
Łobżenica, and smaller ones in
Borek Wielkopolski,
Gostyń
Gostyń (, 1941-45: ''Gostingen'') is a town in western Poland, seat of the Gostyń County and Gmina Gostyń in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 in Leszno Voivodship). According to 31 December 2023 data its population was 27,846 ...
,
Skoki and
Szamotuły.
See also
*
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
's
Province of Posen (1818–1919)
*
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 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
's
Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)
References
Further reading
* Zygmunt Boras, ''Książęta Piastowscy Wielkopolski'' (Piast Princes of Wielkopolska), Poznań, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1983.
External links
wielkopolska-region.pl Information about Great Poland; Multilingual.
greatpoland.eu Data base about: Business, Culture, Sport, Motorization, Tourism, Agrotourism, Medicine, Health by CyberWielkopolska
Greater Poland Local Government OfficeChefMoz Dining Guide Greater Poland
{{Authority control
1999 establishments in Poland
States and territories established in 1999