Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the

Vistula River The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in t ...

in the

Sandomierz Basin Sandomierz Basin ( pl, Kotlina Sandomierska) is a lowland, located in southeastern Poland, between the Lesser Poland Upland, Lublin Upland and the Western Carpathians. Its name comes from the historical city of Sandomierz, and the basin has a tria ...

. It has been part of

Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship The Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, also known as the Świętokrzyskie Province, and the Holy Cross Voivodeship ( pl, województwo świętokrzyskie ) is a voivodeship (province) of Poland situated in southeastern part of the country, in the histo ...

(Holy Cross Province) since 1999, having previously been located in the

Tarnobrzeg Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo podkarpackie'') since ...

Voivodeship. It is the capital of

Sandomierz County __NOTOC__ Sandomierz County ( pl, powiat sandomierski) 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 loc ...

. Sandomierz is known for its preserved Old Town, a major cultural and tourist attraction which was declared a National Monument of Poland in 2017. In the past, Sandomierz used to be one of the most important urban centers not only of

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

, but also of the whole country. It was a

royal city Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

of the

Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includi ...

and a regional administrative centre from the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD ...

to the 19th century.

Etymology

The name of the city might have originated from the

Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old ...

', composed of ' (from the verb ' "to judge") and ' ("peace"), or more likely from the antiquated given name Sędzimir, once popular in several Slavic languages. Sandomierz is known in la, Sandomiria and in yi, צויזמיר, translit=Tzoyzmir.

History

Early history

Sandomierz is one of the oldest and historically most significant cities in Poland. Archeological finds around the city indicate that humans have inhabited the area since

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

times. The city came into existence in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, taking advantage of an excellent location at the junction of

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in t ...

and San rivers, and on the path of important trade routes. The first known historical mention of the city comes from the early 12th-century, when the chronicler

Gallus Anonymus ''Gallus Anonymus'' ( Polonized variant: ''Gall '') is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' (Deeds of the Princes of the Poles), composed in Latin between 1112 and 1118. ''Gallus'' is generally reg ...

ranked it together with

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław (; , . german: Breslau, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...

as one of the main cities of Poland. The

testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller nov ...

(ca 1115–1118) of

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland betwee ...

, in which he divided Poland among his sons, designated Sandomierz as the capital of one of the resulting principalities, the

Duchy of Sandomierz The Duchy of Sandomierz was a district principality and a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland. It was formed in 1138 from the territories of the Kingdom of Poland, following its fragmentation, that was started by the testament of Bolesław III Wry ...

In the early 13th century, the second oldest Dominican monastery in Poland (after

) and one of the oldest in Europe was founded in Sandomierz. In the course of the 13th century the city suffered grievous damage during the raids by

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

1241 Year 1241 ( MCCXLI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events * March 18 – Battle of Chmielnik ( Mongol invasion of Poland): The Mongols overwhelm the feudal Polish ar ...

1260 Year 1260 ( MCCLX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Africa * October 24 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seiz ...

and 1287. The old wooden buildings of the town were completely destroyed. As a result, in 1286 the

High Duke of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (1 ...

Leszek II the Black Leszek II the Black (c. 1241 – 30 September 1288), was a Polish prince of the House of Piast, Duke of Sieradz since 1261, Duke of Łęczyca since 1267, Duke of Inowrocław in the years 1273-1278, Duke of Sandomierz and High Duke of Poland from 1 ...

, effectively refounded the city under

Magdeburg Law Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within c ...

and granted

staple right The staple right, also translated stacking right or storage right, both from the Dutch language, Dutch ''stapelrecht'', was a medieval right accorded to certain ports, the staple ports. It required merchant barges or ships to unload their goods at ...

. The city archives preserve the founding document. (An important note: in 1260, as the Tartars invaded Christian Sandomir, a community of Dominicans was praying Matins while a novice read the martyrology for the next day: " the 49 martyrs of Sandomir". When the friars realized they were being warned of their death, they spent the remainder of the night and all the next day preparing to meet the Lord. At last, after the brethren had finished praying Compline, and as they processed singing the ''Salve Regina'' to Mary, the Tartars broke through the church door. While the Tartars intended to bring death to these Dominicans, they actually brought them great gifts - crowns of martyrdom. Ever since, at the death of every Dominican a song to his Beloved Mother is sung to usher him into her arms - the ''Salve Regina'' (or ''Hail, Holy Queen''). After the re-unification of the Polish lands in the 14th century, the former principality became the

Sandomierz Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo Sandomierskie, la, Palatinatus Sandomirensis) 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 Polan ...

, incorporating large areas of southeastern Poland. Until 1474, it was one of two voivodeships (administrative area/province) of Lesser Poland, together with Kraków Voivodeship. In 1474,

Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...

was created from eastern part of Sandomierz Voivodeship. At this time Sandomierz had about 3,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest Polish cities. In the middle of the 14th century the city was burned again during a raid by the

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Ame ...

. It was rebuilt during the rule of king Casimir III of Poland, who extended its privileges. The layout of the city has survived practically unchanged since that time until the present day. In 1389 in Sandomierz the newly appointed prince of the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of ...

, Lithuanian prince

Lengvenis Lengvenis (''Simeon Lingwen'', born ca. 1360 – died after 1431; be, Лугвен-Сымон, Łuhvien; russian: Лугвений, Лугвен, Лугвень, Lugven(y), pl, Lingwen Semen Olgierdowicz) was one of the sons of Algirdas, Grand ...

, paid homage to Polish King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. ...

, thus making Novgorod a fiefdom of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

Modern era

In 1570 an alliance of non-Catholic Polish Churches, the Lutherans, the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

, and the

Bohemian Brethren The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

, drew up what is known as the ''

Sandomierz Agreement The Sandomierz Agreement (or Sandomierz Consensus; lat. ''Consensus Sendomiriensis'') was an agreement reached in 1570 in Sandomierz between a number of Protestant groups in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was intended to unite different ...

'', effecting a confederation of the work in order to stave off defeat at the hands of the Roman Church. Thanks to the efforts of the local

starost The starosta or starost ( Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. T ...

Hieronim Gostomski, the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

settled in the city and founded the

Collegium Gostomianum Collegium Gostomianum is a secondary school in Sandomierz, Poland. Founded in 1602, it is one of the oldest schools in Poland. History The building was established in 1602 by Hieronim Gostomski, voivode of Poznań for the Jesuits. The constructio ...

, one Poland's oldest

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s, at the beginning of the 17th century. The early modern period, running until the middle of the 17th century, was quite prosperous for the city. The most important historical buildings were built during this period. This golden age came to an end in 1655 when

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used b ...

forces captured the city in the course of the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Comm ...

. After briefly holding out in the city, the withdrawing Swedes blew up the castle and caused heavy damage to other buildings. In the next 100 years the economy of Poland suffered a decline, which also affected the city. A great fire in 1757 and the First Partition of Poland in 1772, which placed Sandomierz in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, further reduced its status. As a result, Sandomierz lost its role as an administrative capital. In 1774, the oldest extant Polish piano was constructed in Sandomierz. Fighting of 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 Bavaria). In this war, Polish forces of the N ...

of 1809 caused damage to the city. Following the Polish victory, it became part of the short-lived Polish

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

and after 1815 it found itself in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, 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 th ...

(

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian 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 ...

). At this point it had just 2640 inhabitants.

Sandomierz Cathedral and St Paul's Church blood painting

This cathedral contains a series of paintings built into the church's wooden panelling depicting the ''

Martyrologium Romanum The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved a ...

''. The third painting shows the scene which, it is claimed: "...depicts ritual murders committed in Sandomierz by Jews on Christian children. The inscription above the painting reads ''filius apothecary ab infidelibus judaeis sandomiriensibus occisus'' (son of an apothecary, by infidel Sandomierz Jews killed) The St Paul's Church contains a different series of paintings including one in the chancel, depicting the torment of Jerzy Krassowski who was allegedly strangled by the Jews. Discussion on these pictures has taken place with the participation of the Polish Jewish Community."The Polish Council of Christians and Jews has offered to finance a plaque with explanations of the painting and information about the official statements by various Popes". This plaque is now displayed in the St Paul's Church next to the picture in question.

The world wars

The city again suffered damage during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1918, it again became part of independent Poland. In the 1930s, due to the massive public works project known as the

Central Industrial Area The Central Industrial District ( pl, Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy, abbreviated COP), is an industrial region in Poland. It was one of the biggest economic projects of the Second Polish Republic. The 5-year-long project was initiated by a famous P ...

, Sandomierz began to grow quickly. It was projected to become capital of the

, and local authorities planned fast development of the city. The ''Greater Sandomierz'' was to turn in the 1940s into a city of 120,000. In September 1939, following the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

, the city was occupied by Germany and made part of the General Government. The Polish and Jewish population were subjected to various crimes. Poles expelled in late 1939 by the Germans from

Złoczew Złoczew (german: 1939-45 Schlötzau) is a town in Sieradz County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,340 inhabitants (2020). The city is south of Sieradz and north of Wieluń. History The first known historical reference to the town of ...

, which was directly annexed by Germany, were deported to Sandomierz. Others were conscripted for forced labour and many were sent to labor camps. The largest mass arrests of Poles, including teachers, local officials and activists, were carried out in March 1940. Poles were then held in the local prison and deported to

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. In June 1940 in Brzask Forest, Germans murdered 760 Poles as part of the

German AB-Aktion in Poland , location = Palmiry Forest and similar locations in occupied Poland , date = Spring–summer 1940 , incident_type = Mass murder with automatic weapons , perpetrators = Wehrmacht, ''Einsatzgruppen'' , participants = , o ...

directed to exterminate Polish

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

. Bodies were buried in an unnamed mass grave. That was the largest massacre in the Kielce Region. At the same time, the nearby village of

Góry Wysokie Góry Wysokie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dwikozy, within Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Dwikozy, north of Sandomierz, and east of the re ...

was the site a massacre of 117 Poles from the region. Despite this, the Polish underground resistance movement was active in Sandomierz, and in late 1940 it even launched a secret printing house in Sandomierz and issued the Polish underground newspaper ''Odwet'', which was also distributed to nearby villages. In March 1942, the Germans carried out mass arrests of around 150 members of the Polish resistance. Among those arrested was local Polish writer Roman Koseła, one of several Polish writers murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Sandomierz tablica ul

In May 1942, the Jewish and Polish population were confined to a

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished ...

area and hundreds of Jews and Poles from around the region were brought there, increasing the population to more than 5000. In October 1942, about 3,000 prisoners were sent to Bełżec where they were immediately gassed. After that deportation, hundreds of Jews came out of hiding and others were sent to Sandomierz from elsewhere. Now the population was more than 6000 confined to another ghetto where as many as twelve people shared each room and some lived in the streets. Sanitary conditions were horrid and many became ill. Those who reported to the hospital were usually shot after a few days. Some prisoners during this time were sent to labor camps, but in January 1943, the SS and German police, surrounded the ghetto, set some houses on fire and bombed others. They rounded up 7,000 people, send a few hundred to a labor camp, and escorted the rest to the railway station, shooting hundreds en route. The trains took the prisoners to

Treblinka Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, Masovian Voivodeship, vi ...

where they were murdered by gas the same day. Poles who were not sent to camps were persecuted for helping Jews, some were even imprisoned for barely "transporting Jews illegally". The city was captured by the Red Army in August 1944. No major industrial development took place in Sandomierz during the communist era, thus preserving its look of a charming, small city full of historical monuments among the unspoiled landscape.

Climate

The city experiences a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

with notably warm summers (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Dfb''), much more consistently pronounced in

eastern Poland Eastern Poland is a macroregion in Poland comprising the Lublin, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships. The make-up of the distinct macroregion is based not only of geographical criteria, but also economic ...

. Precipitation, especially in the form of rains, is concentrated in the summer, reducing until the end of winter. Sandomierz has four well defined seasons of the year, hot summers (sometimes), usually bearable and cold winters but with slightly moderate extremes.

Points of interest

*Church of the Holy Spirit in Sandomierz * Church of St. Jacob where

Lesser Polish Way The Lesser Poland Way is one of the Polish routes of the Way of St. James, a medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It runs from Sandomierz to Kraków through the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and the Świętokrzyskie Voiv ...

begins *Sandomierz Church of St. Joseph *Sandomierz Church of St. Michael *Sandomierz Church of St. Paul *

, one of the oldest schools in Poland founded in 1602 *

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histor ...

House *Kamienica Oleśnickich (Oleśnicki Manor) *Pepper Mountains

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

*Diocesan Museum in Sandomierz *Opatowska Gate (Brama Opatowska),

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

entrance to the city founded by King Casimir (

Kazimierz Wielki Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 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, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...

) * Sandomierz Castle, medieval structure built on a slope of

River by

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 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, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He w ...

, portrayed in the opera ''

Boris Godunov Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of hi ...

'' by

Modest Musorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

Sandomierz Cathedral Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sandomierz ( pl, Bazylika katedralna Narodzenia NMP w Sandomierzu) is a gothic cathedral constructed in 1360. The cathedral was renovated in the baroque style in the 18th century, a ...

, constructed in 1360 and renovated in the

Baroque style 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 ...

in the 18th century *Sandomierz Main Market Square *Sandomierz Palace also known as the Bishop's Palace in Sandomierz * Sandomierz Synagogue, built in 1768 of brick in the

Polish Baroque The Polish Baroque lasted from the early 17th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance sty ...

style * Sandomierz Town Hall

Education

* Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Przyrodnicza ''Studium Generale Sandomiriense'' * Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Sandomierzu * 1 Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace ''

'' * 2 Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Tadeusza Kościuszki * Zespół Szkół Gastronomicznych i Hotelarskich * Zespół Szkół Technicznych i Ogólnokształcących

Sports

The local football team is . It competes in the lower leagues.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Sandomierz is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Ostroh Ostroh ( uk, Остро́г; pl, Ostróg) is a historic city located in Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine, on the Horyn River. Ostroh is the administrative center of the Ostroh Raion (district). Administratively, Ostroh is incorporat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volt ...

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 ...

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road bypasses the town on the line of t ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Emmendingen Emmendingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Emmedinge'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Emmendingen of Germany. It is located at the Elz River, north of Freiburg im Breisgau. The town contains more than 26,000 residents, which ...

, Germany

Gallery

File:20130702 Sandomierz ratusz 0756.jpg, Town Hall File:Polska Sandomierz 017.jpg, Market Square (''Rynek'') File:20130702 Sandomierz zamek 0778.jpg, Sandomierz Royal Castle File:Church of the Conversion of Saint Paul in Sandomierz - 01.jpg, Church of the Conversion of

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

File:Sandomierz św. Jakub.JPG, St. Jacob's Church, 13th–14th century File:Sandomierz Katedra1.jpg,

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

File:Polska Sandomierz 012.jpg, Cathedral, interior File:Sandomierz Dom Długosza.jpg,

house File:PL-SK Sandomierz, rynek 2016-08-18--17-15-28-001.jpg, Historic well at the main square File:Sandomierz church 20051004 1103.jpg, Church of St. Michael File:PL - Sandomierz - Rynek 20-26 - 2012-08-18--12-49-44-01.jpg, Townhouses at the main market square File:Sandomierz-Bischofspalast.jpg, Bishops' Palace File:SM Sandomierz Rynek 10 2019 (3).jpg, Post office File:PL - Sandomierz - Rynek 29-31 - 2012-08-18--14-38-57-01.jpg, House at 31 Rynek

Notable residents

Karol Bielecki Karol Bielecki (born 23 January 1982) is a Polish former handball player who played for the Polish national team. Career He played for the national team, winning a silver medal in the World Handball Championship in 2007 and a bronze in 2009 ...

(born 1982), handball player *

Wiktor Chabel Wiktor Chabel (born 23 November 1985) is a Polish rower. He competed in the men's quadruple sculls event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In October 2017 he married a Polish rower Monika Ciaciuch.Mikołaj Gomółka Mikołaj Gomółka (c. 1535 – after 30 April 1591, most probably 5 March 1609) was a Polish Renaissance composer, and member of the royal court of Sigismund II Augustus, where he was a singer, flutist and trumpeter. Gomółka was born in Sa ...

(1591–1609), Polish

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

composer *

Wincenty Kadłubek Wincenty Kadłubek ( 1150 – 8 March 1223) was a Polish Catholic prelate and professed Cistercian who served as the Bishop of Kraków from 1208 until his resignation in 1218. His episcopal mission was to reform the diocesan priests to ensure ...

(1150–1223), mediaeval chronicler * Karolina Kołeczek (born 1993), athlete specializing in

100 meter hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is p ...

* Stanislaw Krawczynski (1884–1940) medical doctor, Director of St. Spirit Hospital, member of Polish Parliament (Sejm) during 1930 to 1939. Arrested by Gestapo, interrogated, tortured and murdered in June 1940 in Brzask Forest with 760 other Poles. Bodies were buried in unnamed mass grave. *

Wacław Król Wacław Król (1915–1991) was a Polish military pilot and an air colonel of the Polish Air Force. A veteran of the Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain during World War II, he served with distinction alongside the Royal Air Force and ...

(1915–1991), Polish military pilot *

Wiesław Myśliwski Wiesław Myśliwski (born 25 March 1932 in Dwikozy, near Sandomierz) is a Polish novelist. Biography He was born to a middle class family and raised in Ćmielów, where his father had participated in the Polish-Soviet War and became a local of ...

(born 1932), writer,

Nike Award The Nike Literary Award ( pl, Nagroda Literacka „Nike") is a literary prize awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in Polish and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award f ...

laureate *

Piotr Nurowski Piotr Jan Nurowski (20 June 1945 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish tennis player and the chief of the Polish Olympic Committee. Nurowski was born in Sandomierz. He died in Smolensk, Russia in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash. On 16 A ...

(1945–2010), tennis player, President of the

Polish Olympic Committee The Polish Olympic Committee ( pl, Polski Komitet Olimpijski, PKOl) is the National Olympic Committee representing Poland. History The Polish Olympic Committee was established on 12 October 1919 and in 1919 was recognised by the International Ol ...

* Sebastian Petrycy (1554–1626), philosopher and physician *

Gracjan Piotrkowski Gracjan Piotrkowski (1734 in Sandomierz – 1785 in Lipsko) was a Polish people, Polish Roman Catholic Church, Catholic priest, teacher and writer. Piarists, Piarist educated, he was famed was his firebrand sermons and satirical poems. In 17 ...

(1734–1785), Catholic polemicist *

Joseph Schleifstein Joseph Schleifstein (born March 7, 1941) is a Polish-born American who survived the Buchenwald concentration camp during the Holocaust at the age of four. He was hidden by his father in a large sack, enabling him to avoid detection by '' SS'' gu ...

(born 1941), Holocaust survivor whose life served as inspiration for the script to the movie ''

Life Is Beautiful ''Life Is Beautiful'' ( it, La vita è bella, ) is a 1997 Italian comedy drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employ ...

'' *

Mikołaj Trąba Mikołaj Trąba (; 1358 – 2 December 1422), of Trąby coat of arms, was a Polish Roman Catholic priest, Royal Notary from 1390, Deputy Chancellor of the Crown 1403–12, bishop of Halicz 1410–12, archbishop of Gniezno from 1412, and first pr ...

(1358–1422), Polish Roman Catholic priest, first

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Stanisław Warszycki Stanisław Warszycki of Abdank coat of arms (c. 1600 – 1680/1681) was a noble (''szlachcic'') and magnate in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Starosta of Piotrków, Voivode of Mazowsze (1630–1651), Castellan of Cracow (from 1651).It ...

(c. 1600 – 1680/1681), nobleman and magnate in 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 Poland and Lithuania ...

Webcams

City hall & façades of houses on the lower market square
* ttp://www.sandomierz.pl/filmy/kamera3.htm Panoramabr>

Virtual walks

Google Street View

References

External links

Sandomierz city council

Sandomierz Forum - City life

Tourist Web Site

Tourist Guide Site
* Collegium Gostomianu

* Secondary School in Sandomierz no

Zespół Szkół Gastronomicznych i Hotelarskich
* https://web.archive.org/web/20140814213806/http://www.archiwumetnograficzne.edu.pl/downloads/sandomierz_angl.pdf
"Some Glimpses at the Life of the Jewish Community of Sandomierz in the Years 1918-1939"

Pozytywny Sandomierz
* {{Authority control Sandomierz, Sandomierz County Sandomierz Voivodeship Populated places on the Vistula Radom Governorate Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939) Holocaust locations in Poland