Brzesko

Town Hall

Flag

Coat of arms

Brzesko

Coordinates: 49°58′N 20°37′E / 49.967°N 20.617°E

Country

Poland

Government

• Mayor

Grzegorz Wawryka

Area

• Total

11.73 km² (4.53 sq mi)

Population (2006)

• Total

16,827

• Density

1,400/km² (3,700/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

32-800

Car plates

KBR

Website

http://www.brzesko.pl

Brzesko ([ˈbʐɛskɔ]; Yiddish: בריגעל‎, Brigel) is a town in southern Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It lies approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Tarnów and 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of the regional capital Kraków. Since Polish administrative reorganization (in 1999), Brzesko has been the administrative capital of Brzesko County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Before reorganization it was part of Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998).

As of 2008^[update], its population was 16,828. Historically, the town was subject of various ownerships since its 1385 founding. Okocim Brewery, founded by Jan Goetz in 1845, is located in nearby Okocim (3 km (1.9 mi)).

Brzesko lies on the Uszwica river, along the important rail route from Kraków to Przemyśl, and along the European route E40. The town has a 14th-century church of St. Jacob, and the 19th-century palace of the Goetz family (founders of the Okocim Brewery). Other historic buildings were either destroyed in numerous wars, or burned in fires, such as the great fire of 1904. The name Brzesko probably comes from the word brzeg (shore), as the town is located on the shore of a river.

The town was founded in 1385 by Spytko II of Melsztyn, the castellan of Biecz, with permission of Queen Jadwiga of Poland. Brzesko still retains the medieval shape of its town center, with a market square and the Gothic church of St. Jacob (1447). In 1440, the town built a hospital for the poor, funded by Gregory of Sanok. Until 1772 (see Partitions of Poland), Brzesko belonged to Krakow Voivodeship, then it was annexed by Austria and became part of Galicia, to which it belonged until 1918. Before that, in 1856, Brzesko got a rail station, along a line from Kraków to Lwow.

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Wikipedia