Ołpiny (; ''Olpin'') is a village in the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

(province), district of

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

, gmina (commune) of Szerzyny, in southeastern Poland. The village lies in the sub-

Carpathian The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at ...

region known as Pogórze Ciężkowickie where the average elevations reach 350 to 420 meters with the highest Gilowa Góra in the village of Swoszowa, 508 meters, Brzanka in Jodłówka Tuchowska, 538 meters, and Dobrocin in

Żurowa Żurowa is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Szerzyny, within Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately west of Szerzyny, south-east of Tarnów, and east of the regional capital Krakó ...

. The valley, part of which Ołpiny occupies, runs northwest to southeast. A small river Olszynka flows at the bottom of the valley separating it into two parts in the course of its 24 kilometers. Olszynka has its source on the slopes of Brzanka which is completely covered with forest. The river empties into the Ropa River in Siepietnica.

Historical note

There is evidence of settlement in the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

(New Stone Age) in

stone axe Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...

s found and displayed at the regional museum in nearby

Biecz Biecz () () is a town and municipality in southeastern Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Gorlice County. It is in the Carpathian Mountains, in the Doły Jasielsko-Sanockie, by the Ropa (river), Ropa River. Due to its rich history, it is often ...

. These date to 4500-1700 BC. An extensive group of

Slavic people The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and N ...

who are thought to have migrated from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

in the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC inhabited an area greater than present Poland.

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Byzantine coins Byzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of mainly two types of coins: gold solidi and hyperpyra and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins. By the 15th century, the currency was issued ...

found in Biecz indicate an east-west and north-south trade route. In the 880s AD the Kingdom of

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

extended its influence over this area though much is uncertain except that the people converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

during this period. The historical period begins in 12th or 13th century. The Benedictine abbey at

Tyniec Tyniec is a historic village in Poland on the Vistula river, since 1973 a part of the city of Kraków (currently in the district of Dębniki). Tyniec is notable for its Benedictine abbey founded by King Casimir the Restorer in 1044. Etymology ...

held claims over the geographical area that included Ołpiny from the mid-12th century for more than a hundred years. The degree of influence of the abbey is disputed but there is evidence that a

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

was collected by the monastery. Ołpiny was officially founded on August 7, 1349. On this date a royal decree in the name of King

Kazimierz Wielki Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

(Casimir the Great) was issued at the

castle and granted Ołpiny the right to establish a village. This declaration in the form of a royal privilege that granted the right to settle the land, clear the primeval forest, also released the first inhabitants from any obligations to the crown for twenty years. The village was tied to the Biecz castle and was royal property until King Jagiełło gave Ołpiny away in 1386 to one Spytek of Melsztyn, and to his survivors for services rendered. For 500 years various owners held the village inhabitants under an ever tightening

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

yoke, a state not far removed from

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. Few historically significant events happened in the village beyond various taxes, and military obligations, which at times nearly brought it to ruin. The

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

invasion was unusual. The

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

horde stormed through in 1241. The mostly peaceful peasant uprising of 1748 and a bloody

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n-instigated one of 1846 were also extraordinary events. In this century there was more violence from various armies mostly passing through in the two World Wars. There were plenty of massive population decimations by

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

and other diseases especially in the 17th century. In the 1860s

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

became a steady part of life here and it continues till today.

References

There are several histories published in the later 20th century about this small part of the world. ''A history of Ołpiny'' by its native-born F. K. Solarz published by the Redemptorist Press, Tuchów 1996, () is excellent. There are also several volumes about this region by Tadeusz Ślawski, born in nearby Świecany, and living in Biecz, a World War II partisan fighter, director of the Biecz museum for 40 years. These have served as a source of information here.

External links

Jewish Community in Ołpiny
on Virtual Shtetl

References

{{Authority control Villages in Tarnów County