Iwaniska is a town in

Opatów County __NOTOC__ Opatów County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passe ...

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship ( ), also known as Holy Cross Voivodeship, is a voivodeship (province) in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland. The province's capital and largest city is Kielce. The voivodeship takes its ...

, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the

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 ...

(administrative district) called

Gmina Iwaniska __NOTOC__ Gmina Iwaniska is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Opatów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. Its seat is the village of Iwaniska, which lies approximately south-west of Opatów and east of the reg ...

. It lies approximately south-west of

Opatów Opatów (; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, within Opatów County in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Province). Historically, it was part of a greater region called Lesser Poland. In 2012 the population was 6,658. Opatów is located ...

and east of the regional capital

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. The town has a population of 1,300. Iwaniska lies on the Koprzywianka river in historic

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

, in the southeastern corner of the

Świętokrzyskie Mountains The Świętokrzyskie Mountains (, ), often anglicized to Holy Cross Mountains, are a mountain range in central Poland, near the city of Kielce. The mountain range comprises several lesser ranges, the highest of which is Łysogóry (literally ...

. Approximately 2 kilometers southeast of Iwaniska the complex of the

Krzyżtopór Krzyżtopór () is a castle located in the village of Ujazd, Iwaniska commune, Opatów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It was originally built by a Polish nobleman and Voivode of Sandomierz, Krzysztof Ossoliński (158 ...

castle is located.

History

The history of Iwaniska dates back to the late 13th century, when it was a settlement called Onispowka, located in feudal Poland’s Land of

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

. In 1403, the influential

Zborowski family Zborowski (feminine Zborowska, plural Zborowscy) is a Polish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andriy Zborovskyi (born 1986), Ukrainian footballer * Eliot Zborowski (1858–1903), American racing driver * Helmut Zborowski (1905� ...

decided to found a town here, and at that time, Iwaniska was called Unieszow or Uneszow. The current name came into use in the mid-15th century. During the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, Iwaniska was a center of

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

, here a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

took place in 1552, and among its participants was

Jan Laski Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Nu ...

. Furthermore, Iwaniska had several artisans, with their

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s. It was a

private town Private towns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were privately owned towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights and princes, among others. Amongst the most well-known former private magnate towns are Białystok, Zamość, R ...

, administratively located in the Sandomierz County in the

Sandomierz Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship (, ) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Poland region and the Lesser Poland Province. Originally Sandomier ...

in the Lesser Poland Province. The decline of Iwaniska was marked by the

Swedish invasion of Poland The Deluge 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 of Andrusovo in 1667, comprising the Pol ...

; in 1656 the town was plundered and completely burned by

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

in service of

Transilvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border are the Carpathian Mountains and to the west the ...

n prince

George II Rakoczi George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorg ...

. By 1674, the population shrank to 311, and Iwaniska never recovered from the destruction. Following the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

, in 1795, Iwaniska was annexed by the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. It was regained by Poles following the

Austro-Polish War The Austro-Polish War or Polish-Austrian War was a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 (a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and allied states). In this war, Polish forces of ...

of 1809 and included within the short-lived

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 ...

, and after its dissolution, from 1815 to 1915, it was part of Russian-controlled

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. In 1827, it had a population of app. 1,000, with 167 houses. Iwaniska lost its town charter in 1869, after the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

. In 1914, the village received a narrow gauge rail connection with Bogoria. The line was closed in 1959. During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

(

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

), the Polish resistance movement was active in the town, and

Polish underground press The Polish underground press, devoted to prohibited materials ( sl. , lit. semitransparent blotting paper or, alternatively, , lit. second circulation), has a long history of combatting censorship of oppressive regimes in Poland. It existed th ...

was distributed in Iwaniska. Iwaniska, in common with many other places throughout central Europe, was home to a vibrant

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community until the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

during

. The Yiddish name for Iwaniska was 'Ivansk'. Descendants of the Jewish inhabitants of 'Ivansk' operate a web site and publish a newsletter.

Sights

Among points of interest are a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

St. Catherine church (early 20th century), standing in the location of a wooden church from 1718, which burned in 1898. Furthermore, there is an old cemetery, whose history dates back to the 15th century, as well as a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

military cemetery.

Transport

The town is a junction of two

Voivodeship road According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, 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 sinc ...

s (roads of regional importance) – the 757th (

–

Stopnica Stopnica is a town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Stopnica. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately east of Busko-Zdrój and south-east o ...

), and the 758th, which goes to

Koprzywnica Koprzywnica is a town in Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,546 inhabitants (2004). Koprzywnica lies on the Koprzywianka river, in Lesser Poland. It is one of the oldest urban centers of the province, located along t ...

References

{{Gmina Iwaniska Cities and towns in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Opatów County Populated riverside places in Poland Holocaust locations in Poland