Kolno | |||
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Town Hall
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Coordinates: 53°24′38″N 21°56′2″E / 53.41056°N 21.93389°E | |||
Country | Poland | ||
Voivodeship | Podlaskie | ||
County | Kolno County | ||
Gmina | Kolno (urban gmina) | ||
City rights | 1425 | ||
Government | |||
• Mayor | Andrzej Duda | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 25.08 km2 (9.68 sq mi) | ||
Population (2006) | |||
• Total | 10,751 | ||
• Density | 430/km2 (1,100/sq mi) | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
Postal code | 18-500 | ||
Area code(s) | +48 086 | ||
Car plates | BKL | ||
Website | http://www.umkolno.pl |
Kolno pronounced [ˈkɔlnɔ] is a town in northeastern Poland, located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, about 150 km northeast of Warsaw. It is the seat of Kolno County, and the seat of the smaller administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Kolno, but it is not part of this district, as the town has gmina status in its own right. Kolno has 10,730 inhabitants (2007).
Kolno was first mentioned in 1222. The town first belonged to the Masovian Dukes, and then to the Polish crown. Kolno received city rights from Prince Janusz III of Masovia in 1425. The major economic expansion took place in the 16th century, with more trade and crafts. Kolno was destroyed by fire during the Kościuszko Uprising (1794). After the Partitions of Poland (1795) it became part of Prussia, till 1807, and subsequently, part of Duchy of Warsaw (Księstwo Warszawskie). From 1815 it belonged to Congress Poland (Królestwo Polskie). Kolno was destroyed again in the First World War, during battle between Russian and German empires. The population of Kolno during the interwar period increased to 5,163 persons, 70% of them Jewish.
Polish historian and cartographer Joachim Lelewel (1786–1861) was the first to gather all available mentions of Jan of Kolno known as Johannes Scolnus, and claimed that Scolvus was really Jan z Kolna (English: John of Kolno), a Polish navigator of the Danish fleet. He also found mentions of a Joannis de Colno who studied at the Kraków Academy in 1455, and a Colno or Cholno family of merchants and sailors living in Gdańsk.