Czeladź

Czeladź
Saint Stanislaus Church
Flag Coat of arms
Czeladź
Coordinates: 50°20′N 19°5′E / 50.333°N 19.083°E / 50.333; 19.083Coordinates: 50°20′N 19°5′E / 50.333°N 19.083°E / 50.333; 19.083
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	Będzin
Gmina	Czeladź (urban gmina)
Government
• Mayor	Zbigniew Szaleniec
Area
• City	16.38 km2 (6.32 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• City	34,071
• Density	2,100/km2 (5,400/sq mi)
• Urban	2,746,000
• Metro	5,294,000
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	41-250, 41-253 (Piaski suburb)
Car plates	SBE
Website	www.czeladz.pl

Czeladź [ˈt͡ʂɛlat͡ɕ] is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic Lesser Poland), in southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistula), it is the oldest urban center of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie. The area of Czeladź is 16 km²., and it borders Będzin, Sosnowiec, Katowice and Siemianowice Śląskie.

The town is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship. Czeladź is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation – Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the town is 34,072 (2008). Founded in the 13th century, Czeladź was granted city status in 1262. In the years 1434–1790, it belonged to the Duchy of Siewierz. In the 19th century, Czeladź became an important mining center, with the Saturn coal mine opened there in the late 19th century. It also was a main center of Jewish culture, destroyed in The Holocaust.

First historic mention of Czeladź comes from 1228, in a bill of Prince Kazimierz of Opole, in which the boundaries of the village were mentioned, a public house, as well as a bridge over the Brynica. In 1243, the village (spelled as Celad, and already having the status of a defensive gord) was mentioned again, this time in a document of Prince Konrad Mazowiecki, as it had been destroyed in 1241, during the Mongol invasion of Poland. It belonged to an abbey from Staniątki, and in 1260, Prince Władysław of Opole decided to purchase the village with its parish church. Two years later, Czeladź was sold to an abbey from Henryków, and was granted Magdeburg rights. The town remained within territory of Silesian duchies, but at the same time, Czeles, as it was known, was under the jurisdiction of bishops of Kraków. In 1434 it became part of the Duchy of Siewierz, a property of Kraków Bishops. The town had a defensive wall, remains of which were discovered in 2006, and a town hall, where on March 9, 1589, the agreement between Poles and Austrians was signed, ending the War of the Polish Succession. Even though the Duchy of Siewierz was not officially part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Czeladź was destroyed by the Swedes in the Deluge (1655–60).