Łańcut

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This article is about a large town in Poland. For a small town in south Moravia, Czech Republic, see Lanzhot.
Łańcut
Łańcut Castle
Coat of arms of Łańcut
Coat of arms
Łańcut is located in Poland
Łańcut
Łańcut
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country  Poland
Voivodeship POL województwo podkarpackie flag.svg Subcarpathian
County POL powiat łańcucki flag.svg Łańcut County
Gmina Łańcut (urban gmina)
Government
 • Mayor Stanisław Gwizdak
Area
 • Total 19.43 km2 (7.50 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 • Total 18,067
 • Density 930/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 37-100
Car plates RLA
Website http://www.um-lancut.pl/

Łańcut (Polish pronunciation: [ˈwaɲt͡sut];[1] German: Landshut, Yiddish: לאַנצוט-Lantzut‎), is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 18,004 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009.[2] Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the capital of Łańcut County.

History

Archeological investigations carried out in the region of Łańcut confirm the existence of human settlements from about 4000 years B.C.[3]

The first owner of the town was Otton (z Pilczy) Pilecki, who was given the Łańcut estate by the Polish king, Casimir III the Great, in 1349, as a reward for his service. At the same time, the king also granted Łańcut its city rights according to Magdeburg law.[3] In 1381 Łańcut was officially named a ‘town’ for the first time, by Otton Pilecki, in the foundation charter of the town. Łańcut remained under the ownership of the Pilecki family up to 1586.[3]

The city was then owned consecutively by aristocratic Polish families of Stadnicki, Lubomirski, and Potocki.[3] Łańcut was purchased by Stanisław Lubomirski in 1629, at which time he secured the services of architect Matteo (Polish: ‘Maciej’) Trapola and the stuccoist Giovanni Battista Falconi, in order to build a fortified residence in the town, Łańcut Castle, completed in 1641 and reconstructed many times since.

The castle is situated in the centre of the town and constructed in the style of a grand aristocratic palace-residence. It was last owned until 1944 by the Potocki family, and made infamous in late 16th century during the times of Stanisław Stadnicki. After 1775 the palace was owned by Izabella Lubomirska, who extended it and had the interiors remodelled. The palace is currently a museum particularly well known for its large collection of historic carriages. Since 1961, a well-known classical music festival is held there annually.[3]

In 1772, after Poland's First Partition, Łańcut became part of the Habsburg Monarchy where it remained until 1918 when it became part of independent Poland.

At the end of the 18th century, the Lubomirski family established in Łańcut a distillery known for producing flavoured and sweetened vodkas. The distillery has changed ownership several times and now exists under the name of Polmos Łańcut.

The last owner of Łańcut, Alfred Potocki, was one of the richest men in prewar Poland, accumulating a fantastic collection of art during his tenancy. Shortly before the arrival of the Red Army in 1944, he loaded 11 railway carriages with the most valuable objects and fled to Liechtenstein.

Prior to World War II, Łańcut had a thriving Jewish community constituting about one-third of the city population. Local Jewish cemeteries are the resting place of the famous Rabbi Zvi Naftali Horowitz, the Grand Rabbi of Ropshitz (Ropczyce) and Rabbi Ahron Moshe Leifer, the Grand Rabbi of Żołynia.[4] Every year, followers of the Hasidic Judaism come to pray at their graves. On August 4, 1942 (21 Av), a German SS extermination unit took some 2,750 Jews of Łańcut to the Falkinia Forest where they were herded near a mass grave and executed by machine gun.

The Music Festival in Łańcut has been an annual event since 1961. The Festival is a series of modern and classical music concerts performed by distinguished European soloists, ensembles and choirs.

Main sights

  • The Łańcut Castle, sometimes called the Potocki Palace. It was built in 1628–1641 by Stanisław Lubomirski, rebuilt in 1894–1903 in the style of French Neo-baroque. In the castle grounds there is a park with the little romantic castle, a coachhouse with a collection of carriages and a guest-house in the English style.[5]
  • The Łańcut Synagogue, built in 1761. although plain on the exterior, the interior walls and ceiling are decorated with restorations of paintings and stuccowork from the 18th century and polychromies from the 19th - 20th centuries.[5]
  • The architectural complex of the ancient Church and the Dominican monastery (Rynek) rebuilt repeatedly, the oldest phase of the construction going back to the 15th century.[5]
  • The Parish Church (Farna Street) going back to the 15th century. Rebuilt in 1884–1900.[5]

  • Castle

  • Synagogue

  • ancient Church and the Dominican monastery

  • Parish Church

Transport

Łańcut is located on the main West-East European E40 Highway, which goes from Calais in France via Belgium, across Germany, Poland, Ukraine and on to Russia and Kazakhstan. Circa 2008, the A4 highway was announced. Despite it was meant to be done before Euro 2012, it was not finished by July 2014. This caused a large worker protest, after which the contract was broken. However, now the A4 north of Łańcut is expected to be completed sometime in 2016 Other Polish cities located by the E40 highway are Wrocław, Opole, Katowice, Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów and Przemyśl.

The nearest airport is Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport located in the village of Jasionka, north of Rzeszów. It is about 18 kilometres (11 miles) north-west of Łańcut on the A881 and takes about 25–30 minutes by car. Scheduled passenger services include flights to: Warsaw (WAW), Dublin, London (Stansted), Bristol, UK, Birmingham, UK, New York City (JFK Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport).

Łańcut has a railway station, located at Kolejowa Street 1. It is on the main line, Kraków Main station — Medyka. The line then continues on to Ukraine.

The bus station is located at the crossroads of Kościuszko Street and Sikorski Street.

International relations

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See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns — sister cities

Łańcut is twinned with:[6]

See also

References

Bibliography

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Notes

  1. ↑ Approximately "wine-suit"
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Mańko, Sławomir. "Ropczyce: The Chassidic Route", page 11. © Polish Jews Heritage 2008.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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