Bledzew

Bledzew
Village
Main square with St Catherine's Church
Bledzew
Coordinates: 52°31′N 15°24′E / 52.517°N 15.400°E / 52.517; 15.400
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lubusz
County	Międzyrzecz
Gmina	Bledzew
Population	1,300

Bledzew [ˈblɛd͡zɛf] (German: Blesen) is a village in Międzyrzecz County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Bledzew.

The settlement lies on the western rim of the Greater Poland historic region on the left bank of the Obra river, a tributary of the Warta, and is surrounded by numerous lakes and extended forests. It is located approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) north-west of Międzyrzecz, 27 km (17 mi) south-east of Gorzów Wielkopolski, and 65 km (40 mi) north of Zielona Góra. The village has a population of 1,300.

The settlement was established in the 1230s by the Piast duke Władysław Odonic, then ruling over the Polish duchy of Greater Poland. It became a border town after the adjacent Lubusz Land in the west had passed to the Margraves of Brandenburg in 1248 as part of their Neumark territories. In the early 14th century, the Ascanian margrave Waldemar occupied the Bledzew area and granted it to the Cistercian monks at Zemsko; it nevertheless was reconquered by the Polish king Władysław I the Elbow-high in 1326 and incorporated into the Poznań Voivodeship of the Polish Crown.