Żyrardów

Żyrardów
Gothic revival church in Żyrardów Gothic revival church in Żyrardów
Flag of Żyrardów Flag Coat of arms of Żyrardów Coat of arms
Żyrardów
Coordinates:
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Masovian
County	Żyrardów County
Gmina	Żyrardów (urban gmina)
Established	1830
Town rights	1916
Government
• Mayor	Wojciech Jasiński
Area
• Total	14.35 km2 (5.54 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	41,161
• Density	2,900/km2 (7,400/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	96-300
Area code(s)	+48 046
Car plates	WZY
Website	www.zyrardow.pl

Żyrardów [ʐɨˈrarduf] is a town in central Poland with 41,400 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodship (1975–1998) 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of Warsaw. It is the capital of Żyrardów County. Żyrardów is located on the Pisia Gągolina river.

Education

• Szkoła Mistrzostwa Sportowego w Kolarstwie
• Wyższa Szkoła Rozwoju Lokalnego
• Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stefana Żeromskiego

History

Founded by the Łubienski brothers as a textile factory in 1833. One of directors of the factory was French inventor Philippe de Girard (from Lourmarin). The town developed during the 19th century into a significant textile mill city in Poland. In honour of Girard, Ruda Guzowska was renamed to Żyrardów, a toponym derived of the polonised spelling of Girard's name. On September 13, 1939 Germany captured the town. In 1941 they transported Jews into Warsaw ghetto. The town museum is nowadays located in the former palace of owner of factory K. Dittrich.

A sign near the entrance to the town states that it was the only city in Europe, entirely set up for a factory (jedyna w Europie osada fabryczna).

The town was named one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated January 17, 2012. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.

Monuments

Winter panorama of main square

Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing's settlement which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It's widely believed that Żyrardów's settlement is the only saved as a whole urbanist complex industrial town from 19th-century in Europe.

Famous people

• Paweł Hulka-Laskowski, a writer, translator and social activist
• Former Prime Minister Leszek Miller (born in Żyrardów on July 3, 1946), started his professional life as electrician in a local textile factory

International relations

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

Twin towns — Sister cities

Żyrardów is twinned with:

• Tangshan, China
• Delchevo, Republic of Macedonia
• Lourmarin, France
• Siero, Spain

External links

• Official Site of Żyrardów
• A web page of the history of Żyrardów (in Polish)
• Current Population
• Memorial Book of Zyrardow, Amshinov and Viskit
• Jewish Community in Żyrardów on Virtual Shtetl